Chapter 3

¹A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth. ²

O 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. ³ God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. ⁴ The brightness was like the sun; rays came forth from his hand, where his power lay hidden. ⁵ Before him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind. ⁶ He 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. ⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction; the tent‐curtains of the land of Midian trembled. ⁸ Was your wrath against the rivers, ^a Meaning of Heb uncertain O LORD? Or your anger against the rivers, ^a Meaning of Heb uncertain or your rage against the sea, ^b Meaning of Heb uncertain when you drove your horses, your chariots to victory? ⁹ You brandished your naked bow, sated ^c Meaning of Heb uncertain were the arrows at your command. ^d Ancient Heb tradition: MT We Selah You split the earth with rivers. ¹⁰ The mountains saw you, and writhed; a torrent of water swept by; the deep gave forth its voice. The sun ^e Heb He raised high its hands; ¹¹ the moon ^f Syr: Heb I stood still in its exalted place, at the light of your arrows speeding by, at the gleam of your flashing spear. ¹² In fury you trod the earth, in anger you trampled nations. ¹³ You 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. ^d Ancient Heb tradition: MT We Selah ¹⁴ You pierced with their ^g Or faithfulness own arrows the head ^h Other Heb Mss read wine of his warriors, ⁱ Or beam who came like a whirlwind to scatter us, ^j Or poison gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding. ¹⁵ You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the mighty waters.

I hear, and I tremble within; my lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, and my steps tremble ^k Q Ms Gk: MT be uncircumcised beneath me. I wait quietly for the day of calamity to come upon the people who attack us. ¹⁷ Though 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, ¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will exult in the God of my salvation. ¹⁹ GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights. ^a Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain To the leader: with stringed ^b Or against River instruments.