“Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!”
Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with mocking riddles for him, and say, 'Woe to him who heaps up what is not his—how long?—and loads himself with pledges!'—the first woe begins with mockery of Babylon's ill-gotten gains, questioning how long such plunder can be sustained. The taunt-song tradition invokes the reversal of fortune; those conquered will eventually exult over the conqueror's fall. The rhetorical 'how long?' echoes Habakkuk's own complaint, suggesting that the same cry will eventually condemn Babylon.
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