The third taunt begins here. Some scholars regard verses 12-14 as the very words of the stone and the beam mentioned in verse 11. However, no major translation treats them in this way, and it seems better to regard them as simply the next taunt in the series. See verse 6 for an alternative way to translate Woe or “doomed.”

In this case the whole taunt is in the third person, but Good News Translation expresses it in the second person to show the relationship with the other taunts in the series.

The words of verse 12 are similar to those of Micah 3.10. The building of cities, rather than private homes, refers to official government projects rather than the work of individual citizens. A literal translation may make it sound as if blood and iniquity were building materials. In fact, blood stands for “bloodshed” (Moffatt, New American Bible, New English Bible, New International Version) or “murder” (Good News Translation), and iniquity stands for “crime” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible, New International Version). These were the means by which people became rich enough to build houses.

There are two things to note about the Good News Translation rendering “You founded a city on crime and built it up by murder.” First, Good News Translation has reversed the order of the clauses. This is because logically it makes more sense to speak of the foundations before the buildings which are erected upon them. Many translators will find it helpful to do the same.

Second, Good News Translation has not completely avoided the possibility that “crime” and “murder” could be mistaken as building materials. In some languages it may be necessary to make the translation longer in order to be clear. A possible translation base is “You have committed crimes in order to get the power to found your city. You have committed murder in order to make men build your city.” In this context “crimes” means “violent deeds,” or in some languages it can be expressed in a way similar to Revised Standard Version, as “bloody deeds.”

“Crime” (or iniquity in Revised Standard Version) refers to the general way in which the Babylonians treated other nations. “Murder” (or blood in Revised Standard Version) may be a reference to warfare and conquest, but more likely it refers to the use of conquered peoples as slave labor on building projects. This was a common practice in ancient times, and the slaves were sometimes treated so badly that they died.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .