Habakkuk
Chapter 3
1 Habakkuk the prophet’s prayer for troubling times.
2 God, I have heard what you said and was scared: God, make your work live again during the years, let it be known; even when you’re angry, please remember to be kind.
3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His brightness filled the sky, and the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light; he had rays shining from his hand: and that’s where his power was hidden.
5 A disease spread before him, and fiery sparks shot out from under his feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth; he looked and separated the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled, the eternal hills bowed down; his paths are forever.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in trouble; and the tents in the land of Midian shook.
8 Was God unhappy with the rivers? Were you angry with the rivers? Were you mad at the sea when you rode on your horses and drove your chariots to save us?
9 Your bow was fully revealed, as promised to the tribes, your word. Pause. You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and shook; the floodwaters swept by; the ocean roared and raised its waves high.
11 The sun and moon stopped in the sky; by the light of your arrows, they moved, and by the glow of your shining spear.
12 You marched through the land in anger, you crushed the nations in your wrath.
13 You went out to save your people, to save your chosen one; you crushed the leader of the wicked house, laying bare the foundation all the way to the neck. Pause.
14 You struck the leaders’ heads with their own staffs. They attacked me like a whirlwind, eager to secretly destroy the weak.
15 You walked through the sea with your horses, through the mass of deep waters.
16 When I heard, my stomach shook; my lips shook at the sound: decay spread in my bones, and I shook inside, so I could be calm on the day of trouble: when he rises against the people, he will attack them with his soldiers.
17 Even if the fig tree does not bloom and the grapes don’t grow on the vines; if the olive crop fails and the fields make no food; if there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the barns;
18 I will be happy in God, I will take joy in the God who saves me.
19 God gives me strength, makes me as sure-footed as a deer, and lets me walk on the heights. For the director of music with stringed instruments.