Habakkuk 3
1 Yahweh, I have heard about you; I revere you because of [all the amazing] things that you have done. In our time, do again [some of] those things that you did long ago! Even when you are angry [with us], be merciful [to us]!
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, [set] on shigionoth:
O YHWH, I heard your report, I have been afraid, O YHWH, Your work! In midst of years revive it, In the midst of years You make known, In anger You remember mercy.
3 [In the vision, I saw] God, the Holy One, coming from the Teman [district in Edom]; [and I also saw] him coming from the Paran Hills [in the Sinai area]. His glory filled the sky, and the earth was full of [people who were] praising him.
God comes from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. (Pause) His splendor has covered the heavens, And His praise has filled the earth.
4 His glory was like [SIM] a sunrise; rays flashed from his hands where he hides his power.
And the brightness is as the light, He has rays out of His hand, And there—the hiding of His strength.
5 He sent plagues in front of him, and [other] plagues came behind him.
Before Him goes pestilence, And a burning flame goes forth at His feet.
6 When he stopped, the earth shook. When he looked at the nations, [all the people] trembled. The hills and mountains that have existed for a very long time [HYP] collapsed and crumbled. Yahweh is the one who exists eternally/forever!
He has stood, and He measures earth, He has seen, and He shakes off nations, And mountains of antiquity scatter themselves, The hills of old have bowed, The ways of old [are] His.
7 [In the vision] I saw the [people who live in] tents in the Cushan [region] being afflicted, and the people in the Midian [region] trembling.
Under sorrow I have seen tents of Cushan, Curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
8 Yahweh, was it because you were angry with the rivers and streams that you were angry with them? Did the seas cause you to be furious, with the result that you rode through them with horses that were pulling chariots that enabled you to defeat them?
Has YHWH been angry against rivers? Against rivers [is] Your anger? [Is] Your wrath against the sea? For You ride on Your horses—Your chariots of salvation.
9 [It was as though] you uncovered your bow, took arrows from your quiver, [and prepared to shoot them]. [Then with lightning] you split open the earth, and streams burst forth.
You make Your bow utterly naked, The tribes have sworn, saying, (Pause) You cleave the earth [with] rivers.
10 [It is as though] the mountains saw you [doing that], and they trembled. Floods rushed by; [it was as though] the deep ocean roared and caused its waves to rise up high.
Seen You—pained are mountains, An inundation of waters has passed over, The deep has given forth its voice, It has lifted up its hands high.
11 The sun and moon stopped moving in the sky while your [lightning] flashed [past like] a swift arrow, and your glittering spear flashed.
Sun—moon—has stood—a habitation, Your arrows go on at the light, At the brightness, the glittering of Your spear.
12 Being very angry [DOU], you walked across the earth and trampled the [armies of many] nations.
In indignation You tread earth, In anger You thresh nations.
13 But you [also] went to rescue us, your people, and to save the [king] (Or, [people]) whom you had chosen [MTY]. You struck down the leader [MTY] of those wicked people and stripped off his clothes, from his head to his feet.
You have gone forth for the salvation of Your people, For salvation with Your Anointed, You have struck the head of the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation to the neck. (Pause)
14 With his own spear you destroyed the leader of those soldiers who rushed like [SIM] a whirlwind to [attack and] scatter us, thinking that they could conquer us [Israelis] easily.
You have pierced the head of his leaders with his own rods, They are tempestuous to scatter me, Their exultation [is] as to consume the poor in secret.
15 You walked through the sea with your horses [to destroy our enemies], and caused the waves to surge.
You have proceeded through the sea with Your horses—the clay of many waters.
16 When I saw that vision, my heart pounded and my lips quivered [because I became afraid]. My legs became weak and I shook, [because I was terrified]. But I will wait quietly for the people [of Babylonia], those who invaded our country, to experience disasters!
I have heard, and my belly trembles, At the noise have my lips quivered, Rottenness comes into my bones, And in my place I tremble, That I rest for a day of distress, At the coming up of the people, he overcomes it.
17 [Therefore, ] even if there are no blossoms on the fig trees, and there are no grapes on the grapevines, and even if there are no olives growing on the olive trees, and there are no crops in the fields, and even if the flocks [of sheep and goats] die in the fields, and there are no cattle in the stalls/barns,
Though the fig tree does not flourish, And there is no produce among vines, The work of the olive has failed, And fields have not yielded food, The flock has been cut off from the fold, And there is no herd in the stalls,
18 I will rejoice because [I know] Yahweh. I will be joyful because Yahweh my God is the one who saves me!
Yet I, in YHWH I exult, I am joyful in the God of my salvation.
19 Yahweh the Lord is the one who causes me to be strong; he enables me to climb [(safely/without falling)] in the [rocky] mountains, like [SIM] a deer does. (This message is for the choir director: [When this prayer is sung, it is to be accompanied by people playing] stringed instruments.)
YHWH the Lord [is] my strength, And He makes my feet like does, And causes me to tread on my high-places. To the overseer with my stringed instruments!
