Habakkuk 1:4
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
The verse portrays Judah sunk in moral and national ruin. In that condition the law was slacked, having lost its force and binding power. Judgment never went forth, for justice was not carried out but obstructed and held back.
The obstruction came because the wicked compassed the righteous about, surrounding them on every side, overpowering them and holding them down in oppression. Therefore the judgment that did proceed was wrong judgment, the decisions handed down being perverted, corrupt and unjust. The utterance is the cry of distress from the faithful over abounding violence and strife and the apparent triumph of wrongdoing.