King James Version

Habakkuk 2:9

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

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Hebrew

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ה֗וֹיhoyalasהוֹיparticle, interjection — “alas”H1945oh!ah, alas, ho, O, woe.בֹּצֵ֛עַbotseafinishבָּצַעverb, qal, participle, absolute — “finish”, a verb used as a describing wordH1214figuratively, to finish, or (intransitively) stop(be) covet(-ous), cut (off), finish, fulfill, gain (greedily), get, be given to (covetousness), greedy, perform, be wounded.בֶּ֥צַעbetsagainבֶּצַעnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “gain”, the ordinary formH1215plunder; by extension, gain (usually unjust)covetousness, (dishonest) gain, lucre, profit.רָ֖עrabadרַעadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “bad”, the ordinary formH7451bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, [phrase] displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), [phrase] exceedingly, [idiom] great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), [phrase] mark, mischief(-vous), misery…לְבֵית֑וֹleveytvoto familyבַּיִתpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to family”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1004a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)court, daughter, door, [phrase] dungeon, family, [phrase] forth of, [idiom] great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter) house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, [phrase] prison, [phrase] steward, [phrase] tablet, temple, web,…לָשׂ֤וּםlasumto putשׂוּםpreposition, verb, qal, infinitive construct — “to put”, the to-form of the verbH7760to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)[idiom] any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, [phrase] disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, [phrase]…בַּמָּרוֹם֙bamaromin aboveמָרוֹםpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in above”, the ordinary formH4791altitude, i.e. concretely (an elevated place), abstractly (elevation, figuratively (elation), or adverbially (aloft)(far) above, dignity, haughty, height, (most, on) high (one, place), loftily, upward.קִנּ֔וֹqinvonestקֵןnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “nest”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH7064a nest (as fixed), sometimes including the nestlings; figuratively, a chamber or dwellingnest, room.לְהִנָּצֵ֖לlehinatselto defendנָצַלpreposition, verb, niphal, infinitive construct — “to defend”, the to-form of the verbH5337to snatch away, whether in a good or a bad sense[idiom] at all, defend, deliver (self), escape, [idiom] without fail, part, pluck, preserve, recover, rescue, rid, save, spoil, strip, [idiom] surely, take (out).מִכַּףmikaffrom hand , -dle,כַּףpreposition, noun, common, feminine, singular, construct — “from hand , -dle,”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3709the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree); figuratively, powerbranch, [phrase] foot, hand((-ful), -dle, (-led)), hollow, middle, palm, paw, power, sole, spoon.רָֽעrabadרַעadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “bad”, the ordinary formH7451bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, [phrase] displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), [phrase] exceedingly, [idiom] great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), [phrase] mark, mischief(-vous), misery…

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Woe to him that gaineth evil gains for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!

Young’s Literal Translation

Woe [to] him who is gaining evil gain for his house, To set on high his nest, To be delivered from the hand of evil,

World English Bible

Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!

Darby Translation

Woe to him that getteth iniquitous gain to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the grasp of evil!

Douay-Rheims

Woe to him that gathereth together an evil covetousness to his house, that his nest may be on high, and thinketh he may be delivered out of the hand of evil.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Woe to him that gaineth evil gains for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evils.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ὢ ὁ πλεονεκτῶν πλεονεξίαν κακὴν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ, τοῦ τάξαι εἰς ὕψος νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἐκσπασθῆναι ἐκ χειρὸς κακῶν.