Habakkuk’s Prayer for God to Manifest His Power

ca. 1200–332 BCE

About This Entry

For the book of Habakkuk, see Classical Prophetic Literature.

1A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. In the mode of Shigionoth.

2O Lord! I have learned of Your renown;
I am awed, O Lord, by Your deeds.
Renew them in these years,
Oh, make them known in these years!
Though angry, may You remember compassion.
3God is coming from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.
His majesty covers the skies,
His splendor fills the earth:
4It is a brilliant light
Which gives off rays on every side—
And therein His glory is enveloped.
5Pestilence marches before Him,
And plague comes forth at His heels.
6When He stands, He makes the earth shake;
When He glances, He makes nations tremble.
The age-old mountains are shattered,
The primeval hills sink low.
His are the ancient routes:
7As a scene of havoc I behold
The tents of Cushan;
Shaken are the pavilions
Of the land of Midian!
8Are You wroth, O Lord, with Neharim?
Is Your anger against Neharim,
Your rage against Yama—
That You are driving Your steeds,
Your victorious chariot?
9All bared and ready is Your bow.
Sworn are the rods of the word. Selah.
You make the earth burst into streams,
10The mountains rock at the sight of You,
A torrent of rain comes down;
Loud roars the deep,
The sky returns the echo.
11Sun [and] moon stand still on high
As Your arrows fly in brightness,
Your flashing spear in brilliance.
12You tread the earth in rage,
You trample nations in fury.
13You have come forth to deliver Your people,
To deliver Your anointed.b
You will smash the roof of the villain’s house,
Raze it from foundation to top. Selah.
14You will crack [his] skull with Your bludgeon;
Blown away shall be his warriors,
Whose delight is to crush me suddenly,
To devour a poor man in an ambush.
15You will make Your steeds tread the sea,
Stirring the mighty waters.
16I heard and my bowels quaked,
My lips quivered at the sound;
Rot entered into my bone,
I trembled where I stood.
Yet I wait calmly for the day of distress,
For a people to come to attack us.
17Though the fig tree does not bud
And no yield is on the vine,
Though the olive crop has failed
And the fields produce no grain,
Though sheep have vanished from the fold
And no cattle are in the pen,
18Yet will I rejoice in the Lord,
Exult in the God who delivers me.
19My Lord God is my strength:
He makes my feet like the deer’s
And lets me stride upon the heights.
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Notes

Neharim (lit. “Floods”) and Yam (lit. “Sea”) were marine monsters vanquished by the Lord in hoary antiquity. A being called both Yam and Nahar figures in early Canaanite literature.

I.e., the king of Judah.

Credits

Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

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For the book of Habakkuk, see Classical Prophetic Literature.

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