Habakkuk 3

³A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth.

The Prophet’s Prayer

²O 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.^*

³God came from Teman,

the Holy One from Mount Paran.   Selah

His glory covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise.^*

⁴The brightness was like the sun;

rays came forth from his hand,

where his power lay hidden.^*

⁵Before him went pestilence,

and plague followed close behind.^*

⁶He 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.^*

⁷I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;

the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

⁸Was your wrath against the rivers,^g O Lord,

or your anger against the rivers^h

or your rage against the sea,ⁱ

when you drove your horses,

your chariots to victory?^*

⁹You brandished your naked bow;

sated^j were the arrows at your command.^k   Selah

You split the earth with rivers.^*

¹⁰The mountains saw you and writhed;

a torrent of water swept by;

the deep gave forth its voice.

The sun raised high its hands;^*

¹¹the moon stood still in its exalted place,

at the light of your arrows speeding by,

at the gleam of your flashing spear.^*

¹²In fury you marched on the earth;

in anger you trampled nations.^*

¹³You 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.^l   Selah^*

¹⁴You pierced with their^m own arrows the head of his warriors,ⁿ

who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,^o

gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.

¹⁵You trampled the sea with your horses,

churning the mighty waters.^*

¹⁶I hear, and I tremble within;

my lips quiver at the sound.

Rottenness enters into my bones,

and my steps tremble^p beneath me.

I wait quietly for the day of calamity

to come upon the people who attack us.^*

Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble

¹⁷Though 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,^*

¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will exult in the God of my salvation.^*

¹⁹God, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer

and makes me tread upon the heights.^q

To the leader: with stringed^r instruments.^*