< Habakkuk 3 >
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigyonoth.
A PRAYER OF THE PROPHET AMBACUM, WITH A SONG.
2 O Lord, I have heard thy fame, [and] was afraid: O Lord, thy work—in the midst of the years [of sorrow] revive thou it, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
O Lord, I have heard your report, and was afraid: I considered your works, and was amazed: you shall be known between the two living creatures, you shall be acknowledged when the years draw near; you shall be manifested when the time is come; when my soul is troubled, you will in wrath remember mercy.
3 [When] God from Theman came, and the Holy One from mount Paran, (Selah) his glory covered the heavens, and of his praise the earth was full.
God shall come from Thaeman, and the Holy One from the dark shady mount Pharan. (Pause)
4 And [his] brightness was like the sunlight; rays streamed forth out of his hand unto them; and there was the hiding of his power.
His excellence covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness shall be as light; [there were] horns in his hands, and he caused a mighty love of his strength.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth in his steps.
Before his face shall go a report, and it shall go forth into the plains,
6 He stood forward, and made the earth tremble; he looked and dispersed nations; and there burst asunder the everlasting mountains; there sunk the perpetual hills: the ways of the world are his.
the earth stood at his feet and trembled: he saw, and the nations melted away: the mountains were violently burst through, the everlasting hills melted at his everlasting going forth.
7 In affliction I saw the tents of Cushan: they trembled—the curtains of the land of Midian.
Because of troubles I looked upon the tents of the Ethiopians: the tabernacles also of the land of Madiam shall be dismayed.
8 Was the Lord wroth against the rivers? yea, was against the rivers thy anger [kindled]? was against the sea thy wrath that thou rodest upon thy horses, thy chariots of victory!
Was you angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or [was] your wrath against the rivers, or your anger against the sea? for you will mount on your horses, and your chariots are salvation.
9 Laid quite bare is thy bow, like severe rods of punishment [goeth forth] thy word, (Selah) into rivers thou splittest the earth.
Surely you did bend they bow at sceptres, says the Lord. (Pause) The land of rivers shall be torn asunder.
10 The mountains saw thee, they trembled; the flowing waters passed along: the deep issued forth its voice, the height lifted up its hands.
The nations shall see you and be in pain, [as you do] divide the moving waters: the deep uttered her voice, and raised her form on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their dwelling: at the light of thy arrows they walked along, at the shining of the flaming glitter of thy spear.
The sun was exalted, and the moon stood still in her course: your darts shall go forth at the light, at the brightness of the gleaming of your arms.
12 In indignation thou marchest through the earth, in anger thou treadest down nations.
You will bring low the land with threatening, and in wrath you will break down the nations.
13 Thou wentest forth to the assistance of thy people, to the assistance of thy anointed: thou didst wound the head out of the house of the wicked, destroy the foundation with the high-towering walls. (Selah)
You went forth for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed: you shall bring death on the heads of transgressors; you has brought bands upon [their] neck. (Pause)
14 Thou didst strike through with his own spears the chiefs of his villages, who rushed out furiously to scatter me; who rejoiced greatly as though they were to devour the poor in secret.
You did cut asunder the heads of princes with amazement, they shall tremble in it; they shall burst their bridles, [they shall be] as a poor man devouring in secret.
15 [But] thou didst pass along over the sea with thy horses, over the piled up billows of great waters.
And you do cause your horses to enter the sea, disturbing much water.
16 I heard it, and my inmost parts trembled; at the report my lips quivered; rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place, that I should rest till the day of distress, till the withdrawing of the people that will invade us with its troops.
I watched, and my belly trembled at the sound of the prayer of my lips, and trembling entered into my bones, and my frame was troubled within me; I will rest in the day of affliction, from going up to the people of my sojourning.
17 For the fig-tree doth not bud, and no fruit is on the vines; the productiveness of the olive deceiveth, and the fields yield no food; from the fold the flocks are cut off, and there are no herds in the stalls.
For [though] the fig tree shall bear no fruit, and there shall be no produce on the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall produce no food: the sheep have failed from the pasture, and there are no oxen at the cribs;
18 Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in the God of my salvation.
yet I will exult in the Lord, I will joy in God my Saviour.
19 The Lord Eternal is my strength, and he maketh my feet fleet as those of the hinds, and he will cause me to tread upon my high places. To the chief musician of my songs.
The Lord God is my strength, and he will perfectly strengthen my feet; he mounts me upon high places, that I may conquer by his song.