2 How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save?
2 God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!" before you come to the rescue?
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, "Violence!" And You will not save.
2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! "Violence is everywhere!" I cry, but you do not come to save.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Habakkuk 1:2
Commentary on Habakkuk 1:1-11
(Read Habakkuk 1:1-11)
The servants of the Lord are deeply afflicted by seeing ungodliness and violence prevail; especially among those who profess the truth. No man scrupled doing wrong to his neighbour. We should long to remove to the world where holiness and love reign for ever, and no violence shall be before us. God has good reasons for his long-suffering towards bad men, and the rebukes of good men. The day will come when the cry of sin will be heard against those that do wrong, and the cry of prayer for those that suffer wrong. They were to notice what was going forward among the heathen by the Chaldeans, and to consider themselves a nation to be scourged by them. But most men presume on continued prosperity, or that calamities will not come in their days. They are a bitter and hasty nation, fierce, cruel, and bearing down all before them. They shall overcome all that oppose them. But it is a great offence, and the common offence of proud people, to take glory to themselves. The closing words give a glimpse of comfort.