15 "Woe to you who make your neighbors drink , Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk So as to look on their nakedness ! 16 "You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor . Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness . The cup in the Lord'S right hand will come around to you, And utter disgrace will come upon your glory . 17 "For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them, Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land , To the town and all its inhabitants . 18 "What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, Or an image , a teacher of falsehood ? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork When he fashions speechless idols . 19 "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood , ' Awake !' To a mute stone , 'Arise !' And that is your teacher ? Behold , it is overlaid with gold and silver , And there is no breath at all inside it. 20 "But the Lord is in His holy temple . Let all the earth be silent before e Him."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Habakkuk 2:15-20
Commentary on Habakkuk 2:15-20
(Read Habakkuk 2:15-20)
A severe woe is pronounced against drunkenness; it is very fearful against all who are guilty of drunkenness at any time, and in any place, from the stately palace to the paltry ale-house. To give one drink who is in want, who is thirsty and poor, or a weary traveller, or ready to perish, is charity; but to give a neighbour drink, that he may expose himself, may disclose secret concerns, or be drawn into a bad bargain, or for any such purpose, this is wickedness. To be guilty of this sin, to take pleasure in it, is to do what we can towards the murder both of soul and body. There is woe to him, and punishment answering to the sin. The folly of worshipping idols is exposed. The Lord is in his holy temple in heaven, where we have access to him in the way he has appointed. May we welcome his salvation, and worship him in his earthly temples, through Christ Jesus, and by the influence of the Holy Spirit.