3 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth.
The Prophet’s Prayer
2 O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.(A)
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.(B)
4 The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.(C)
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.(D)
6 He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.(E)
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers,[a] O Lord,
or your anger against the rivers[b]
or your rage against the sea,[c]
when you drove your horses,
your chariots to victory?(F)
9 You brandished your naked bow;
sated[d] were the arrows at your command.[e]Selah
You split the earth with rivers.(G)
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
The sun raised high its hands;(H)
11 the moon stood still in its exalted place,
at the light of your arrows speeding by,
at the gleam of your flashing spear.(I)
12 In fury you marched on the earth;
in anger you trampled nations.(J)
13 You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
laying it bare from foundation to roof.[f]Selah(K)
14 You pierced with their[g] own arrows the head of his warriors,[h]
who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,[i]
gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the mighty waters.(L)
16 I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble[j] beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.(M)
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,(N)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.(O)
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and makes me tread upon the heights.[k]
To the leader: with stringed[l] instruments.(P)
Footnotes
- 3.8Or against River
- 3.8Or against River
- 3.8Or against Sea
- 3.9Heb mss: MT oaths
- 3.9Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.13Heb neck
- 3.14Heb his
- 3.14Gk Vg Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.14Heb me
- 3.16Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.19Heb my heights
- 3.19Heb my stringed
Cross references
- 3.2 : Job 42.5, 6; Ps 85.6; 119.120; Isa 54.8; Jer 10.7
- 3.3 : Deut 33.2; Ps 48.10; 113.4; Am 1.12
- 3.4 : Job 26.14; Ps 18.12
- 3.5 : Ex 12.29, 30; Num 16.46–49
- 3.6 : Ps 35.5; Mic 5.8
- 3.8 : Ex 7.19, 20; Deut 33.26; Ps 68.17
- 3.9 : Gen 26.3; Deut 7.8; Ps 78.16
- 3.10 : Ex 14.22; Ps 114.3–8
- 3.11 : Josh 10.12–14; Ps 18.12–14
- 3.12 : Ps 68.7; Isa 41.15; Jer 51.33
- 3.13 : Ex 15.2; Ps 68.19, 20; 110.6; Ezek 13.14
- 3.15 : Ex 15.8; Ps 77.19
- 3.16 : Jer 5.15; 23.9
- 3.17 : Jer 5.17; Joel 1.18
- 3.18 : Ps 46.1–5; Isa 12.2; 61.10
- 3.19 : Deut 33.29; 2 Sam 22.34; Ps 18.33