The Prayer of Habakkuk

• 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,[fn] and Pestilence[fn] went out at his feet.
  • 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.[fn]
  • 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.