The Prophet's Prayer
3:1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.
3:2O Jehovah, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid:
O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
And the Holy One from mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
3:4And his brightness was as the light;
He had rays coming forth from his hand;
And there was the hiding of his power.
3:5Before him went the pestilence,
And fiery bolts went forth at his feet.
3:6He stood, and measured the earth;
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the eternal mountains were scattered;
The everlasting hills did bow;
His goings were as of old.
3:7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
3:8Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers?
Was thine anger against the rivers,
That thou didst ride upon thy horses,
Upon thy chariots of salvation?
3:9Thy bow was made quite bare;
The oaths to the tribes were a sure word.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
3:10The mountains saw thee, and were afraid;
The tempest of waters passed by;
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted up its hands on high.
3:11The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,
At the light of thine arrows as they went,
At the shining of thy glittering spear.
3:12Thou didst march though the land in indignation;
Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.
3:13Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
For the salvation of thine anointed;
Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked man,
Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.
3:14Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors:
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
3:15Thou didst tread the sea with thy horses,
The heap of mighty waters.
3:16I heard, and my body trembled,
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entereth into my bones,
and I tremble in my place;
Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
3:17For though the fig-tree shall not flourish,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no food;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
3:18Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
3:19Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength;
And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet1,
And will make me to walk upon my high places.
- maketh my feet like hind's feet. cf. Psalms 18:33. The feet of a hind (female deer) are especially equipped (for high states).
