Habakkuk 3
3
The Prayer of Habakkuk
1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2O 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.
3God came from Teman;
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
and his praise fills the earth.
4And his brightness was like the light;
flashing rays came from his hand for him;
And there is the covering of his strength.
5Before him went Disease,#The Hebrew term is also the name of a Canaanite deity
and Pestilence#The Hebrew term is also the name of a Canaanite deity went out at his feet.
6He 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.
7Under affliction I saw the tents of Cushan;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8Was 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?
9You laid bare the nakedness of your bow,
swearing oaths with the arrows of your word.
You split the earth with rivers.
10When the mountains saw you they writhed;
a torrent of waters swept by;
the deep gave its voice;
it raised its hands on high.
11Sun 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.
12In fury you marched through the earth;
in anger you trampled the nations.
13You 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.#Or “to the neck”
14You 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.
15You trampled upon the sea with your horses,
the churning of many waters.
16I 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.
17Though 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,
18Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
19Yahweh, 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.
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Habakkuk 3
3
God Racing on the Crest of the Waves
1-2A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, with orchestra:
God, I’ve heard what our ancestors say about you,
and I’m stopped in my tracks, down on my knees.
Do among us what you did among them.
Work among us as you worked among them.
And as you bring judgment, as you surely must,
remember mercy.
* * *
3-7God’s on his way again,
retracing the old salvation route,
Coming up from the south through Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Skies are blazing with his splendor,
his praises sounding through the earth,
His cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading,
forked-lightning shooting from his hand—
what power hidden in that fist!
Plague marches before him,
pestilence at his heels!
He stops. He shakes Earth.
He looks around. Nations tremble.
The age-old mountains fall to pieces;
ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon.
The paths God takes are older
than the oldest mountains and hills.
I saw everyone worried, in a panic:
Old wilderness adversaries,
Cushan and Midian, were terrified,
hoping he wouldn’t notice them.
* * *
8-16 God, is it River you’re mad at?
Angry at old River?
Were you raging at Sea when you rode
horse and chariot through to salvation?
You unfurled your bow
and let loose a volley of arrows.
You split Earth with rivers.
Mountains saw what was coming.
They twisted in pain.
Flood Waters poured in.
Ocean roared and reared huge waves.
Sun and Moon stopped in their tracks.
Your flashing arrows stopped them,
your lightning-strike spears impaled them.
Angry, you stomped through Earth.
Furious, you crushed the godless nations.
You were out to save your people,
to save your specially chosen people.
You beat the stuffing
out of King Wicked,
Stripped him naked
from head to toe,
Set his severed head on his own spear
and blew away his army.
Scattered they were to the four winds—
and ended up food for the sharks!
You galloped through the Sea on your horses,
racing on the crest of the waves.
When I heard it, my stomach did flips.
I stammered and stuttered.
My bones turned to water.
I staggered and stumbled.
I sit back and wait for Doomsday
to descend on our attackers.
* * *
17-19Though the cherry trees don’t blossom
and the strawberries don’t ripen,
Though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty,
I’m singing joyful praise to God.
I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer.
I feel like I’m king of the mountain!
(For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.