Habakkuk 3:1-16

Habakkuk's Prayer

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

2 O LORD, ¹I have heard the report of you, and ²your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years ³revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; ⁴in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from ⁵Teman, ⁶and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. Selah

4 ⁷His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power.

5 ⁸Before him went pestilence, and plague followed ⁹at his heels.^[a]

6 He stood ¹⁰and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the ¹¹eternal mountains ¹²were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were ¹³the everlasting ways.

7 I saw the tents of ¹⁴Cushan in affliction; ¹⁵the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

8 ¹⁶Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? Was your anger against the rivers, ¹⁷or your indignation against the sea, ¹⁸when you rode on your horses, ¹⁹on your chariot of salvation?

9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows.^[b] Selah ²⁰You split the earth with rivers.

10 ²¹The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; ²²the deep gave forth its voice; ²³it lifted its hands on high.

11 ²⁴The sun and moon stood still in their place ²⁵at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear.

12 ²⁶You marched through the earth in fury; ²⁷you threshed the nations in anger.

13 ²⁸You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of ²⁹your anointed. ³⁰You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck.^[c] Selah

14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.

15 ³¹You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters.

16 ³²I hear, and ³³my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; ³⁴rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet ³⁵I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.

Habakkuk 3:1-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HABAKKUK 3

The title of this chapter is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, composed after the manner of a psalm of David, and directed to the chief singer, Hab 3:1,19. The occasion of it is expressed, Hab 3:2 in which the prophet declares his concern for the work of the Lord, and the promotion of the kingdom and interest of Christ; and observes the various steps that were, or would be, taken for the advancement of it; for which he prays, and suggests that these would be after the manner of the Lord's dealing with the people of Israel, and settling them in the land of Canaan, Hab 3:3-15 and there being several things awful in this account, both with respect to the judgments of God on his enemies, and the conflicts and trials of his own people, it greatly affected the mind of the prophet, Hab 3:16 and yet, in the view of the worst, he expresses his strong faith in the Lord, as to better times and things, that would most assuredly come, Hab 3:17-19.

Cross References

• 1. ver. 16; [Psalms 44:1]
• 2. Psalms 90:16
• 3. Psalms 85:6
• 4. [Psalms 77:9]
• 5. See 1 Chronicles 1:45
• 6. See Deuteronomy 33:2
• 7. See Ezekiel 1:27
• 8. [2 Kings 19:35]; See Exodus 12:29, 30; 1 Chronicles 21:11-15
• 9. [Job 18:11]
• 10. [Psalms 60:6]
• 11. Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:15
• 12. Micah 1:4; Nahum 1:5
• 13. [Isaiah 51:9]
• 14. Judges 3:8
• 15. See Judges 8:19-21
• 16. [Psalms 114:5]
• 17. [Psalms 114:5]
• 18. Deuteronomy 33:26, 27; Psalms 18:10; Psalms 68:4, 17; Psalms 104:3; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 66:15
• 19. Deuteronomy 33:26, 27; Psalms 18:10; Psalms 68:4, 17; Psalms 104:3; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 66:15
• 20. Psalms 78:15, 16
• 21. Exodus 19:18; See Judges 5:5
• 22. Psalms 93:3
• 23. [Exodus 14:22; Exodus 15:8]
• 24. See Joshua 10:12, 13
• 25. [ver. 5]; See 2 Samuel 22:15
• 26. [Joshua 10:42]
• 27. [Micah 4:12, 13]
• 28. [See ver. 12 above]
• 29. 1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalms 105:15
• 30. Psalms 68:21; Psalms 110:6
• 31. [Psalms 77:19]
• 32. ver. 2
• 33. Jeremiah 4:19
• 34. [Proverbs 12:4]
• 35. [Psalms 94:13; Isaiah 14:3, 4]

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew feet
• [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
• [c]. The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain