Habakkuk 1:3
“Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The prophet asks why God makes him watch wrongdoing — plundering, violence, strife — that goes on unchecked before his eyes.
What Does Habakkuk 1:3 Mean?
Habakkuk presses his complaint further. It is not only that evil exists; it is that he must keep looking at it. Spoiling, violence, strife, and contention fill his vision, and he cannot understand why a holy God would let His servant gaze on such things without intervening.
There is a peculiar pain in seeing clearly what is wrong and feeling powerless to stop it. The prophet's tender conscience makes the sight unbearable. Yet the very ability to grieve over sin is a gift; it means his heart still beats in time with God's own grief over a broken world. We are not meant to grow numb to injustice. Like Habakkuk, we bring what we see to the Lord, trusting that He sees it more clearly and cares more deeply than we do.
In the Original Language
'amal (עָמָל), 'grievance' — toil and trouble, the wearying misery that wrongdoing inflicts on its victims.