Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 [This is] a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth:[fn]

2 O 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!

3 God came from Teman,

and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah[fn]

His glory covered the heavens,

and His praise filled the earth.

4 [His] radiance was like the sunlight;

rays [flashed] from His hand

where His power is hidden.

5 Plague went before Him,

and fever followed in His steps.

6 He stood and measured the earth;

He looked and startled the nations;

the ancient mountains crumbled;

the perpetual hills collapsed.

His ways [are] everlasting.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress;

the curtains of Midian were trembling.

8 Were 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?

9 You brandished Your bow;

You called for many arrows. Selah

You split the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw You [and] quaked;

torrents of water swept by.

The deep roared with its voice

and lifted its hands on high.

11 Sun and moon stood still

in their places

at the flash of Your flying arrows,

at the brightness of Your shining spear.

12 You marched across the earth with fury;

You threshed the nations in wrath.

13 You 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

14 With his own spear You pierced his head,

when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,

gloating as though ready

to secretly devour the weak.

15 You trampled the sea with Your horses,

churning the great waters.

16 I 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.