Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Habakkuk 1:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse exposes the conqueror worshiping the net because it supplies rich food.
Confession first, then the protest against the instrument
This verse is one part of that explanation in Habakkuk 1:12-17. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Habakkuk 1:12-17
Read Habakkuk 1:16 with 1:12-17. This verse exposes the conqueror worshiping the net because it supplies rich food. The full unit establishes this movement: Habakkuk confesses God's holy permanence yet protests that the Chaldean treats peoples like fish, worships the tools of conquest, and kills without mercy; he asks how God can remain silent when the wicked swallows one more righteous.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The second complaint prevents sovereignty language from silencing moral inquiry. The prophet tests the answer against God's own holiness and the victims' dehumanization. Within that movement, this verse exposes the conqueror worshiping the net because it supplies rich food.
Read Habakkuk 1:12–17 together
Why these verses belong together: Confession of holiness leads into fish-and-net imagery and the final question about merciless conquest.
Verse 12. 12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
Verse 13. 13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
Verse 14. 14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
Verse 15. 15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
Verse 16. 16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
Verse 17. 17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
What Remains True
Tools become idols when success is credited to them as ultimate.
How It Can Shape Life
- Use tools without granting them moral authority or ultimate trust.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Habakkuk 1:12-17 — The Second Complaint: How Can the Holy God Use Greater Violence?Sources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Net and dragnet remain conquest metaphors, not literal cult objects documented elsewhere.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Habakkuk 1:12-17, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Habakkuk
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated terms, clause relationships, and base forms behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hab.xml, 1:12-17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Habakkuk with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, Hebrew, text-critical, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Habakkuk PDF, printed pp. 1771, translation and notes on 1:12-17
Open source ↗