The Prayer of Habakkuk

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

² O Yahweh, I have heard the report of you; O Yahweh, I stand in awe of your works. In the midst of the years, revive it! In the midst of the years, make it known! In wrath, may you remember to show compassion.

³ God came from Teman; the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covers the heavens, and his praise fills the earth.

⁴ And his brightness was like the light; flashing rays came from his hand for him; And there is the covering of his strength.

⁵ Before him went Disease,¹ and Pestilence² went out at his feet.

1. The Hebrew term is also the name of a Canaanite deity
2. The Hebrew term is also the name of a Canaanite deity

⁶ He stood and measured the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. Then the mountains of old were shattered; the hills of old collapsed. The ways of old belong to him.

⁷ Under affliction I saw the tents of Cushan; the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

⁸ Was the anger of Yahweh against the rivers? Was your wrath against the rivers, or your fury against the sea, when you mounted upon your horses, upon your victory chariot?

⁹ You laid bare the nakedness of your bow, swearing oaths with the arrows of your word. You split the earth with rivers.

¹⁰ When the mountains saw you they writhed; a torrent of waters swept by; the deep gave its voice; it raised its hands on high.

¹¹ Sun and moon stood still in their place; at the light of your arrows they moved about; at the gleam of the flashing of your spear.

¹² In fury you marched through the earth; in anger you trampled the nations.

¹³ You went forth for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of wickedness, laying bare from the foundation to the top.¹

1. Or “to the neck”

¹⁴ You pierced the head of his warriors with his own arrows; they came like a whirlwind to scatter me, their exultation like one who devours the afflicted in ambush.

¹⁵ You trampled upon the sea with your horses, the churning of many waters.

¹⁶ I hear and my stomach shakes; my lips quiver at the sound; infection enters my bones; that which is beneath me trembles; I wait quietly for the day of trouble to come upon the people attacking us.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor there be fruit on the vines; the yield of the olive tree fails, and the cultivated fields do not yield food; the flock is cut off from the animal pen, and there is no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh; I will exult in the God of my salvation.

¹⁹ Yahweh, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer; he causes me to walk on my high places. To the choirmaster with stringed instruments.