Habakkuk

Habakkuk, chapter 3, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 3 New English Translation

Habakkuk's Vision of the Divine Warrior

   1 This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet: 2 LORD, I have heard the report of what you did; I am awed, LORD, by what you accomplished. In our time repeat those deeds; in our time reveal them again. But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy!
   3 God comes from Teman, the sovereign one from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the skies, his glory fills the earth.
   4 He is as bright as lightning; a two-pronged lightning bolt flashes from his hand. This is the outward display of his power.
   5 Plague goes before him; pestilence marches right behind him.
   6 He takes his battle position and shakes the earth; with a mere look he frightens the nations. The ancient mountains disintegrate; the primeval hills are flattened. He travels on the ancient roads.
   7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking.
   8 Is the LORD mad at the rivers? Are you angry with the rivers? Are you enraged at the sea? Is this why you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, your victorious chariots?
   9 Your bow is ready for action; you commission your arrows. Selah. You cause flash floods on the earth's surface.
   10 When the mountains see you, they shake. The torrential downpour sweeps through. The great deep shouts out; it lifts its hands high.
   11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses; the flash of your arrows drives them away, the bright light of your lightning-quick spear.
   12 You furiously stomp on the earth, you angrily trample down the nations.
   13 You march out to deliver your people, to deliver your special servant. You strike the leader of the wicked nation, laying him open from the lower body to the neck. Selah.
   14 You pierce the heads of his warriors with a spear. They storm forward to scatter us; they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition.
   15 But you trample on the sea with your horses, on the surging, raging waters.

Habakkuk Declares His Confidence

   16 I listened and my stomach churned; the sound made my lips quiver. My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, and I shook as I tried to walk. I long for the day of distress to come upon the people who attack us.
   17 When the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines; when the olive trees do not produce, and the fields yield no crops; when the sheep disappear from the pen, and there are no cattle in the stalls,
   18 I will rejoice because of the LORD; I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
   19 The sovereign LORD is my source of strength. He gives me the agility of a deer; he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. (This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments. )

King James Version

   1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
   2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
   3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
   4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
   5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
   6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
   7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
   8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
   9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
   10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
   11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
   12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
   13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
   14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
   15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.
   16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.
   17 ¶ Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
   18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
   19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.