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Habakkuk 3 International Standard Version (ISV)

Habakkuk’s Prayer of Faith

3 A prayer by the prophet Habakkuk, set to music.

2 Lord, as I listen to what has been said about you,
    I am afraid.
Lord, revive your work throughout all of our lives—
    reveal yourself throughout all of our lives—
when you are angry,
    remember compassion.
3 God comes from Teman—
    the Holy One from Mount Paran.

Interlude

His glory spreads throughout the heavens,
    and praises about him fill the earth.
4 His radiance is like sunlight;
    beams of light shine from his hand,
        where his strength lays hidden.
5 Before him pestilence walks,
    and disease follows behind him.
6 He stood up and shook the land;
    with his stare he startled the nations.
The age-old mountains were shattered,
    and the ancient hilltops bowed down.
His ways are eternal.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    and the tent curtains of the land of Midian in anguish.
8 Was the Lord displeased with the rivers?
    Was your anger directed against the watercourses
        or your wrath against the sea?
Indeed, you rode upon your horses,
    upon your chariots of deliverance.
9 Your bow was exposed,
    and your arrows targeted by command.

Interlude

        You split the earth with rivers.
10 When the mountains looked upon you, they trembled;
    the overflowing water passed by,
the ocean shouted,
    and its waves surged upward.
11 The sun and moon stand still in their orbits;
    at the glint of your arrows they speed along,
        even at the gleam of your flashing spear.
12 You march through the land in righteous indignation;
    you tread down the nations in anger.
13 You marched out to deliver your people,
    to deliver with your anointed.
You struck the head of the house of the wicked;
    you stripped him naked from head to foot.

Interlude

14 With his own lances you pierced the heads of his warriors,
    who came out like a windstorm to scatter us—
        their joy is to devour the afflicted who are in hiding.
15 You rode on the sea with your horses,
    even riding the crested waves of mighty waters.

Habakkuk’s Response

16 I heard and I trembled within.
    My lips quivered at the noise.
My legs gave way beneath me,
    and I trembled.
Nevertheless, I await the day of distress
    that will dawn on our invaders.
17 Even though the fig tree does not blossom,
    and there are no grapes on the vines;
even if the olive harvest fails,
    and the fields produce nothing edible;
even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold,
    and there is no herd in the stalls—
18 as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord.
    I will find my joy in the God who delivers me.
19 The Lord God is my strength—
    he will make my feet like those of a deer,
        equipping me to tread on my mountain heights.