Bible Strands
Habakkuk 2:13
Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers a divine oracle addressing the oppressors who construct cities through bloodshed and iniquity. The declaration responds to their violent expansion by asserting God's sovereign control over their efforts.
The words — יְהוָה צְבָא֑וֹת (Yahweh tseva'ot) translates to Yahweh of hosts, establishing the speaker’s authority. וְיִֽיגְעוּ (ve-yi'ge'u) means they may labor or weary themselves, describing the nations' exhausted toil.
The thread — The theme of futile human effort against divine judgment appears in Jeremiah 51:58, where Babylon's walls and gates are consumed by fire. It aligns with Proverbs 21:30, which states no wisdom or counsel can prevail against the LORD, and Isaiah 50:11, which warns those who kindle their own fire to walk in its flames.
Why it lands — The text states that human labor under oppression only fuels destruction and achieves nothing before God. Readers must recognize that resisting divine sovereignty exhausts them without altering the outcome, demanding a shift from self-reliant ambition to submission to God's authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:58 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”
- Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Isaiah 50:11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
- Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.
- Job 5:13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
- Psalms 39:6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
- Psalms 127:1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
- Isaiah 41:5 The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.
- Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
- Malachi 1:4 Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.