A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.
O Jehovah, I have heard {Or, thy fame}the report of thee, and {Or, was}am afraid:
O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
God {Or, cometh ( and similarly to the end of verse 15)}came from Teman,
And the Holy One from mount Paran. [Selah.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had {Hebrew: horns.}rays coming forth {Or, at his side}from his hand;
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,
And {Or, burning coals}fiery bolts went forth at his feet.
He stood, and {Or, shook}measured the earth;
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the eternal mountains were scattered;
The everlasting hills did bow;
{Or, His ways are everlasting}His goings were as of old.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers?
Was thine anger against the rivers,
Or thy wrath against the sea,
That thou didst ride upon thy horses,
Upon thy chariots of salvation?
Thy bow was made quite bare;
{Or, Sworn were the chastisements (Hebrew: rods) of thy word}The oaths to the tribes were a sure word. [Selah.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
The mountains saw thee, and {Or, were in pain}were afraid;
The tempest of waters passed by;
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted up its hands on high.
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,
At the light of thine arrows as they went,
At the shining of thy glittering spear.
Thou didst march through the land in indignation;
Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.
Thou {Or, art come}wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
{Or, For salvation (or, victory) with thine anointed}For the salvation of thine anointed;
{Or, Thou didst smite off the head from the house &c.}Thou {Or, hast wounded}woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked man,
Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck. [Selah.
Thou {Or, hast pierced}didst pierce with his own staves the head of his {Or, hordes Or, villages}warriors:
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
Thou {Or, hast trodden}didst tread the sea with thy horses,
The {Or, surge}heap of mighty waters.
I heard, and my body trembled,
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place;
Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
{Or, When there shall come up against the people he that invadeth them}For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.
For though the fig-tree shall not flourish,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no food;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength;
And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet,
And will make me to walk upon my high places.
Querverweise zu Habakuk 3,2 Hab 3,2
I heard, and my body trembled,My lips quivered at the voice;Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place;Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, {Or, When there shall come up against the people he that invadeth them}For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.
Who hath believed {Or, that which we have heard}our message? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?
And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for {Or, one worketh}I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
{Hebrew: He, and so in verse 8, 9.}They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen {Or, spread themselves}press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.
They come all of them for violence; {Hebrew: the eagerness (or, assembling) of their faces is &c.}the set of their faces is {Or, towards the east}forwards; and they gather captives as the sand.
{Or, And they scoff &c.}Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
But they did not all hearken to the {Or, gospel}glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, {Isaiah 53:1}Lord, who hath believed our report?
Wilt thou not quicken us again,That thy people may rejoice in thee?
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it {Hebrew: everlasting desolations.}desolate for ever.
But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel.
And Jehovah said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.
And Moses said unto Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;
and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou Jehovah art in the midst of this people; for thou Jehovah art seen {Hebrew: eye to eye.}face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
Pardon, I pray thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy lovingkindness, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah;
because all those men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it:
He that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:
Return, O Jehovah; how long?And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
Oh satisfy us in the morning with thy lovingkindness,That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,And the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants,And thy glory upon their children.
And let the {Or, beauty}favor of the Lord our God be upon us;And establish thou the work of our hands upon us;Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life:
and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take thy censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from Jehovah; the plague is begun.
and he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me;Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies,And thy right hand will save me.
in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.
And Aaron took as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and hast humbled thyself before me, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith Jehovah.
Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me:Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever;Forsake not the works of thine own hands.
And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done: but now, O Jehovah, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
And when David rose up in the morning, the word of Jehovah came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
Go and speak unto David, Thus saith Jehovah, I {Or, lay upon}offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise thee, and consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah; for his mercies are {Or, many}great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.
So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of {Or, Ornah In 1 Chronicles 21:15, Ornan.}Araunah the Jebusite.
And David spake unto Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought back word to the king.
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?
Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, set to the {Or, the eighth}Sheminith. A Psalm of David.O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger,Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Now a thing was {Hebrew: brought by stealth.}secretly brought to me,And mine ear received a whisper thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the night,When deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling,Which made all my bones to shake.
Then {Or, a breath passed over}a spirit passed before my face;The hair of my flesh stood up.
It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;A form was before mine eyes: {Or, I heard a still voice}There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Shall mortal man {Or, be just before God}be more just than God?Shall a man {Or, be pure before his Maker}be more pure than his Maker?
Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants;And his angels he chargeth with folly:
How much more them that dwell in houses of clay,Whose foundation is in the dust,Who are crushed {Or, like}before the moth!
{Or, From morning to evening}Betwixt morning and evening they are {Hebrew: broken in pieces.}destroyed:They perish for ever without any regarding it.
{Or, Is not their excellency which is in them removed?}Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?They die, and that without wisdom.
Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where are thy zeal and thy mighty acts? the yearning of thy heart and thy compassions are restrained toward me.
For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name.
O Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err from thy ways, and hardenest our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Thy holy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
We are become as they over whom thou never barest rule, as they that were not called by thy name.
Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; for I am withered away:O Jehovah, heal me; for my bones are troubled.
My flesh trembleth for fear of thee;And I am afraid of thy judgments.
Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might {Or, flow down}quake at thy presence, {[Chapter 64:1 in Hebrew]}
as when fire kindleth the brushwood, and the fire causeth the waters to boil; to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence.
For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye {Or, seen; O God, besides thee, one that &c.}seen a God besides thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for him.
A Psalm of David, {Or, to make memorial}to bring to remembrance.O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath;Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
For all these things hath my hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.
After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.
But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,And did not stir up all his wrath.
So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll; and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes that stood beside the king.
Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.
And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four {Or, columns}leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.
O Jehovah, correct me, but in {Hebrew: judgement.}measure: not in thine anger, lest thou {Hebrew: diminish me.}bring me to nothing.
So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.
The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may {Or, have abundance}have it abundantly.
For thus saith Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ:
For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, {Deuteronomy 9:19.}I exceedingly fear and quake:
Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.