Habakkuk 3

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, with a song.

2 Lord, I have heard what is reported of you,

and I was afraid.

I considered your works and was amazed.

You will be known between the two living creatures;

as the years draw near, you will be recognized.

When the appointed time comes, you will be revealed.

When my soul is troubled,

you will remember mercy in your wrath.

3 God will come from Teman,

and the Holy One from the dark, wooded mountain. Pause.

His excellence covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise.

4 His brightness will be like light;

horns were in his hands,

and he established the mighty love of his strength.

5 A word will go before his face,

and his feet will go out in sandals.

6 He stood, and the earth shook;

he looked, and the nations melted away.

The mountains were shattered with force,

and the everlasting hills melted.

7 I saw his everlasting journeys in return for toil;

the dwellings of the Ethiopians will be terrified,

and the tents of the land of Midian.

8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?

Was your wrath against the rivers,

or your rush against the sea?

You will mount your horses,

and your cavalry is rescue.

9 You will surely bend your bow against scepters, says the Lord. Pause.

The land of rivers will be torn open.

10 Peoples will see you and be in pain

as you scatter the waters along his path.

The deep gave its voice

and raised the height of its form.

11 The sun was lifted up,

and the moon stood still in its appointed place.

Your arrows will go out in the light,

in the brightness of your flashing weapons.

12 With a threat you will bring the land low;

in wrath you will break down nations.

13 You went out for the rescue of your people,

to save your anointed ones.

You brought death on the heads of the lawless

and raised bonds as high as the neck. Pause.

14 In amazement you cut apart the heads of sovereigns;

they will shake within it.

They will loosen their bridles

like a poor man eating in secret.

15 You drove your horses into the sea,

stirring up the great waters.

16 I kept watch, and my belly trembled

at the sound of my lips’ prayer.

Trembling entered my bones,

and my whole frame was shaken underneath me.

I will rest on the day of affliction,

when I go up to the people among whom I live as a foreigner.

17 Though the fig tree bears no fruit

and no produce grows on the vines,

though the olive’s work fails

and the fields produce no food,

though sheep fail for lack of food

and no cattle stand at the feeding troughs,

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord

and be glad in God, the one who rescues me.

19 The Lord God is my strength.

He will set my feet toward completion

and mount me on the heights,

so that I may overcome in his song.