Albert Barnes Commentary Habakkuk 1:17

"Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?" — Habakkuk 1:17 (ASV)

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? - The prophet, like Isaiah (Isaiah 18:4–5), stands at the very last point, before the fury and desire of the enemy was fulfilled.

People, like fish, were gathered together as prey. He who had taken them was rejoicing and exulting beforehand in his booty. His portion and his food were the choice of the earth. The prophet looks on, as it were, and beholds the net full; there is only one step more.

“Shall he empty it? Shall he then devour those whom he has caught, and so cast his emptied net again unceasingly, pitilessly, to slay the nations?”

This question he answers in the next chapter - A Deliverer will come!