Habakkuk 3
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigyonoth.
This is a prayer sung by the prophet Habakkuk. On Shigonoth.
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.
I have heard what is said about you, Lord. I stand in awe of your work. Lord, revive it in our times; make it known in our times. In your anger, please remember your 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 came from Teman; the Holy One from Mount Paran. (Selah) His glory covered the heavens; the earth was full of his praise.
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 brightness is like lightning; rays flash from his hand from where his power is hidden.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth in his steps.
Plague goes before him, disease follows at his feet.
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.
Where he stands, the earth shakes. When he looks the nations tremble. The ancient mountains shatter, the age-old hills collapse, but his ways are eternal.
7 In affliction I saw the tents of Cushan: they trembled—the curtains of the land of Midian.
I saw the tents of Cushan suffering, the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
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!
Did you burn with rage against the rivers, Lord? Were you angry with the rivers? Were you furious with the sea when you rode your horses and chariots of salvation?
9 Laid quite bare is thy bow, like severe rods of punishment [goeth forth] thy word, (Selah) into rivers thou splittest the earth.
You took out your bow; you filled your quiver with arrows. (Selah) You split the earth open with rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, they trembled; the flowing waters passed along: the deep issued forth its voice, the height lifted up its hands.
Mountains saw you and shook. Water poured down and swept by. The deep called out, lifting high its waves.
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 and moon stood still in the sky as your sparkling arrows flew and your spears flashed bright.
12 In indignation thou marchest through the earth, in anger thou treadest down nations.
Indignant, you marched across the earth, trampling the nations in your anger.
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 came out to save your people, to save your chosen people. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, stripping him from thick to neck.
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.
With his own arrows you pierced the heads of his warriors, those who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating like those who secretly abuse the poor.
15 [But] thou didst pass along over the sea with thy horses, over the piled up billows of great waters.
You trod upon the sea with your horses, churning up the mighty waters.
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 shook inside when I heard this; my lips quivered at the sound; my bones turned to jelly; I trembled where I stood. I wait quietly for the day of trouble that will come upon those who attacked us.
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.
Even though there are no blossoms on the fig trees and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no harvest; even though there are no animals in the pen and no cattle in the stalls;
18 Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in the God of my salvation.
still I will be happy in the Lord, joyful in the God of my salvation.
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. He makes me able to walk in the highest mountains, as sure-footed as a deer. (To the music director: with my stringed instruments.)
