“Woe to you!
You make your neighbors drink!
You pour out your wrath,
Until they are drunk,
In order to gaze
On their nakedness!
You will be sated
With contempt,
Instead of glory!
Drink!
You yourself!
Stagger!
The cup
In Yahweh’s right hand
Will come around to you.
Shame will come upon
Your glory!
The violence done
To Lebanon
Will overwhelm you.
The destruction
Of the animals
Will terrify you,
Because of human bloodshed
With the violence to the earth,
To the cities,
To all who live in them.”
Habakkuk then cursed the Chaldean drunkards. They made their neighbors drunk so that they would become naked. They themselves would drink until they staggered around. They used alcohol as a weapon and as a form of feasting. Their glory would turn to shame. They had been violent to Lebanon. The destruction of animals would terrify them. They had committed violence that led to bloodshed in the various cities that they had taken over.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 