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 3,17 Hab 3,17
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.
Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof.
Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee.
Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thy hand.
The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;
so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
Jehovah will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.
Jehovah will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall lead thee away.
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.
Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit.
Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity.
Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
And their nobles send their {Or, inferiors}little ones {Or, for water}to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.
Because of the ground which is {Or, dismayed}cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.
Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young, because there is no grass.
And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like {Or, the crocodile}jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
Though our iniquities testify against us, work thou for thy name's sake, O Jehovah; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that {Or, spreadeth his tent}turneth aside to tarry for a night?
The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the grain is destroyed, the new wine is {Or, ashamed}dried up, the oil languisheth.
{Or, The husbandmen are confounded, the vinedressers wail}Be confounded, O ye husbandmen, wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished.
The vine is {Or, ashamed}withered, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: for joy is {Or, ashamed}withered away from the sons of men.
Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seeds {Or, shrivel}rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep {Or, suffer punishment}are made desolate.
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, {Hebrew: with the captivity of your horses.}and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
{Hebrew: since those days were.}Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty.
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah.