5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. [Habakkuk 1:5] And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
(Verse 5.) Look among the nations and see, be astonished and astounded; for a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. LXX: Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if someone tells you. Symmachus, in response to what we have said: “a work is being done in your days”, interpreted it as “a work will be done in your days”. The rest is similar. Again, at the beginning of the chapter, where it is written in Hebrew 'Rau Baggoim', and we have translated it, look among the nations, and the Septuagint has put 'contemptores', except for Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, who agree with our interpretation, in another edition I found 'ἀνωνύμῃ' you will see the slanderers, and in another similarly without the title of the author, you will see the decliners. Therefore, in response to the complaints of the prophet who causes and says: 'How long, O Lord, will I cry out, and you will not hear?' And the rest, up to the end of this introduction, the voice of the responding Lord is introduced, so that he may see this injustice, which he thinks is happening only in Israel, among the Gentiles: and that not only the Jews and Jerusalem, as he thought as a prophet, would be handed over to the Chaldeans, but all nations around, and that he would be so powerful and afterwards overthrown, that if someone were to predict what is going to happen, they would seem incredulous because of the magnitude of the matter. But even this, which the 70 and the other interpreters have put forth: See the despisers, whether you will see the slanderers and those who turn away, it agrees with the meaning of this place, and they are shown from the very discourse of their audacity and contempt towards the Lord: from the person of whom the prophet had cried out, why they have dared to despise the majesty of God and speak rashly, and as much as they can, to slander the providence of God, and to turn away from the Lord, thereby convicting themselves of wickedness. So you will see, you who scorn, and then you will admire, and you will consider all your complaining as nothing, when you perceive what I will do in your days; lest perhaps you say: What does the future have to do with us? The work that will be so great will overwhelm all your reasoning: so that if someone were to predict it now, you would not readily believe. But what this work is, is shown in what follows.
He remained Lord of all things even when he came, for the divine economy, in the form of a slave, and this is why the mystery of Christ is truly wonderful. Indeed God the Father said to the Jews through one of the prophets, “Look on this, you scoffers, be struck with wonder and disappear, for I am doing a work in your days, a work in which you will not believe even if one were to explain it to you.”
[AD 62] Acts on Habakkuk 1:5