Habakkuk 3

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

This chapter records a prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, who asks the Lord to renew His deeds and show mercy in wrath. The text describes God coming from Teman and Mount Paran with glory covering the heavens, radiant light, and accompanying plague and fever. God measures the earth, startles nations, collapses ancient mountains, and causes distress in Cushan and Midian. The passage depicts the Lord riding with horses and chariots, splitting the earth with rivers, and causing the sun and moon to stand still. God marches across the earth in fury to save His people and crush the wicked. Hearing these things causes Habakkuk to tremble physically, yet he resolves to wait patiently for the day of distress. Even if agricultural and livestock yields completely fail, the prophet declares he will exult in the Lord, who is his strength, making his feet like a deer's for walking on the heights.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth: ²O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy! ³God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. ⁴His radiance was like the sunlight; rays flashed from His hand, where His power is hidden. ⁵Plague went before Him, and fever followed in His steps. ⁶He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. ⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress; the curtains of Midian were trembling. ⁸Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD? Was Your wrath against the streams? Did You rage against the sea when You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation? ⁹You brandished Your bow; You called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers. ¹⁰The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high. ¹¹Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear. ¹²You marched across the earth with fury; You threshed the nations in wrath. ¹³You went forth for the salvation of Your people, to save Your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe. Selah ¹⁴With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak. ¹⁵You trampled the sea with Your horses, churning the great waters. ¹⁶I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us. ¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! ¹⁹GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.