“For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.”
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which marches through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own—God reveals His instrument of judgment: the Chaldean (Babylonian) empire, characterized as aggressive, swift, and ruthlessly expansionist. The identification of Babylon as God's agent presents the paradox that troubles Habakkuk: how can a more wicked nation (Babylon) serve as God's instrument against Judah? The verse introduces the central theodicy tension.
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