HolyStudy
Bible IndexRead BibleNotesChurchesMissionPrivacyTermsContact
© 2026 HolyStudy
HomeRead BibleBible NotesChurchesSign in
HolyStudy
HomeRead BibleBible NotesChurches
Sign in

Habakkuk 3

1

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.

2
2

O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

3

God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

1
4

And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.

5

Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

1
6

He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

1
1
7

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

1
2
8

Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?

1
9

Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

10

The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

2
2
11

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

2
12

Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

10
13

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

1
14

Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

2
15

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

16

When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

17

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

1
1
18

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

1
19

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

1
← Previous ChapterNext Chapter →

Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk concludes his prophecy with a prayer-psalm that begins in trembling petition—the prophet has heard the report of the Lord's deeds and is afraid, asking that the Lord's work be revealed in the midst of the years and that compassion be remembered amid wrath. The prophet then recounts God's mighty acts in Israel's history: the theophany at Mount Sinai when the mountains quaked and the everlasting hills bowed low, the exodus deliverance when the Lord marched through the sea and parted the waters, and the conquest when divine arrows shot forth and the sun and moon stood still. Habakkuk's language crescendos into a vision of cosmic proportions in which the Lord advances for judgment, pestilence marching before His face, and diseases following at His heels, shaking the earth and causing nations to tremble. Yet even as Habakkuk contemplates judgment and calamity, he arrives at a posture of radical trust: though the fig tree does not bud and the vine yields no fruit, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though flocks are cut off from the fold and stalls are empty of cattle, he will rejoice in the Lord and exult in the God of his salvation. This resolution—where faith triumphs over material circumstance and joy persists amid devastation—represents the maturation of Habakkuk's spiritual struggle from protest to praise. In redemptive history, Habakkuk's psalm demonstrates that faith is not optimism about earthly prosperity but rather trust in God's ultimate purposes and goodness regardless of present circumstances, a message of profound relevance to exiled and suffering believers.

Habakkuk 3:12

You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying bare from foundation to roof. Selah—the repetition of the crushing imagery emphasizes totality and completeness of judgment. The exposure of the house 'from foundation to roof' suggests that nothing remains hidden or intact; divine judgment penetrates every level of the wicked's security. This verse provides assurance of absolute triumph.

Habakkuk 3:13

You pierced with his own arrows the head of his warriors who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret—the reversal of violence upon the violent establishes retributive justice; the arrows intended to scatter God's people scatter the enemies instead. The depiction of enemies rejoicing in secret cruelty emphasizes their moral depravity. Divine judgment transforms their weapons against them.

Habakkuk 3:14

You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of the mighty waters—the trampling of the sea invokes the Red Sea crossing and establishes God's dominion over chaos. The 'mighty waters,' often symbolic of chaos and evil in Scripture, yield to divine authority. This verse emphasizes that obstacles to God's redemptive plan ultimately prove illusory before divine power.

Habakkuk 3:15

I heard and my heart trembled; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered into my bones, and my legs trembled beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon the people who invade us—Habakkuk's response to the theophanic vision combines fear (heart trembling, lips quivering, legs trembling) with resolute faith. The 'rottenness entering bones' suggests profound disturbance; yet despite existential terror, Habakkuk chooses to 'quietly wait' for divine justice. This verse depicts faith not as absence of fear but as trust despite fear.

Habakkuk 3:16

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls—the conditional clause envisions complete agricultural collapse: no figs, grapes, olives, grain, or livestock. This scenario represents the worst possible economic devastation; Habakkuk contemplates total loss of livelihood. Yet the resolution that follows establishes faith's deepest test: trusting God when all external supports vanish.

Habakkuk 3:17

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will joy in the God of my salvation—despite the catastrophic loss hypothetically envisioned, Habakkuk chooses joy in God. This verse articulates the resolution of theodicy through the entire prophecy: faith does not depend on external circumstances but on God's character and salvation. The multiplication of agricultural loss gives profound weight to the following affirmation; this is not trivial joy but joy born through deep trial.

Habakkuk 3:18

GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments—Habakkuk's final affirmation places God as his strength, granting the surefootedness and elevation to stand above enemies. The musical notation suggests the prayer was incorporated into liturgical worship. The verse transforms the personal prayer into a communal confession of faith.

Habakkuk 3:19

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments—the liturgical notation indicates that Habakkuk's prayer, which began with personal complaint, becomes the possession of the whole community, sung in worship as corporate affirmation of faith. The shift from personal lament to communal praise suggests that individual theodicy, once resolved through faith, becomes the testimony that sustains the community.

Habakkuk 3:8

Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? Was your anger against the rivers, or your rage against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?—the rhetorical questions recall God's acts against chaos-waters (Red Sea crossing) and military victories. The characterization of God's vehicles as 'chariots of salvation' transforms instruments of war into instruments of deliverance for God's people. This verse connects God's power over creation with God's salvation-purpose.

Habakkuk 3:9

You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept by. The deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high—the weaponry imagery (bow and arrows) emphasizes God's combat with chaos; splitting the earth with rivers invokes both destruction and the provision of water. The personification of mountains, waters, and deep emphasizes that all creation responds to God's presence with fear and trembling.

Habakkuk 3:10

The sun and moon stood still in their exalted places, at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear—the cosmic imagery recalls Joshua's victory where the sun and moon stood still; the arrows and spear suggest divine combat against chaos-forces. The cessation of celestial movement indicates that even the heavenly bodies respond to God's command; time and space themselves submit to divine will. This verse suggests that salvation-history is written across creation itself.

Habakkuk 3:11

You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger. You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying bare from foundation to roof—the theophanic march manifests divine fury against the wicked specifically for the deliverance of God's people and anointed one. The total destruction of the wicked house (from foundation to roof) emphasizes complete annihilation. The verse connects God's judgment of the wicked to God's salvation of the righteous.

Habakkuk 3:1

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth—the superscription identifies chapter 3 as a prayer-poem, a hymnic response to God's revelation in chapter 2. The musical notation 'Shigionoth' suggests an emotional, passionate mode; the prayer gives voice to deep feeling in response to God's word. This designation frames Habakkuk's response not as intellectual assent but as the whole person's engagement with God through prayer and song.

Habakkuk 3:2

O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in the wrath remember mercy—Habakkuk's prayer begins with awe at God's character ('report') and prayer for renewal of God's work. The plea for God to revive God's work in the midst of years appeals to God's temporal sovereignty and power over history. The petition that wrath remember mercy seeks moderation of judgment; Habakkuk prays for God's compassion to temper justice.

Habakkuk 3:3

God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise—the theophanic vision opens with God's manifestation from the southern wilderness (Teman and Paran), evoking the tradition of God's revelation at Sinai. The covering of heavens by glory and the earth's fullness of praise suggest cosmic transformation attending divine presence. This verse establishes the prayer's visionary dimension.

Habakkuk 3:4

His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power—the visual splendor of God's manifestation includes hidden power; even as God reveals radiance and brightness, divine might exceeds what human perception can bear. The veiling of power emphasizes divine transcendence: God's revealed manifestation remains inadequate to God's true reality. This verse suggests the limit of human comprehension even in theophanic encounter.

Habakkuk 3:5

Before him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind—the personification of pestilence and plague as divine attendants in God's procession emphasizes the total devastation attending God's judgment. These attendants suggest that divine wrath operates through natural forces and pestilence, not merely through military conquest. The verse emphasizes that God's judgment pervades creation at every level.

Habakkuk 3:6

He stood and shook the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. The eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His ways are everlasting—God's judgment shakes the very geological foundations of creation; mountains and hills, symbols of permanence, collapse before divine power. Yet despite this cosmic upheaval, God's ways endure, suggesting that the destruction serves God's eternal purposes. The verse establishes the stability of divine purpose amid apparent chaos.

Habakkuk 3:7

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian trembled—the historical memory of enemies (Cushan, Midian) who trembled before God establishes precedent for faith that current enemies will similarly fall. The vision encompasses past divine acts as assurance for future deliverance. This verse uses memory to strengthen faith: what God has done, God will do again.