A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.
2YAHWEH1, I have heard of your fame.
I stand in awe of your deeds, YAHWEH.
Renew your work in the midst of the years.
In the midst of the years make it known.
In wrath, you remember mercy.
3God2 came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.
His glory covered the heavens,
And his praise filled the earth.
4His splendor is like the sunrise.
Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.
5Plague went before him,
And pestilence followed his feet.
6He stood, and shook the earth.
He looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains were crumbled.
The age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction.
The dwellings of the land of Madyan trembled.
8Was YAHWEH displeased with the rivers?
Was your anger against the rivers,
Or your wrath against the sea,
That you rode on your horses,
On your chariots of salvation?
9You uncovered your bow.
You called for your sworn arrows. Selah.
You split the earth with rivers.
10The mountains saw you, and were afraid.
The tempest of waters passed by.
The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
11The sun and moon stood still in the sky,
At the light of your arrows as they went,
At the shining of your glittering spear.
12You marched through the land in wrath.
You threshed the nations in anger.
13You went forth for the salvation of your people,
For the salvation of your MASIH3.
You crushed the head of the land of wickedness.
You stripped them head to foot. Selah.
14You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears.
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me,
Gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.
15You trampled the sea with your horses,
Churning mighty waters.
16I heard, and my body trembled.
My lips quivered at the voice.
Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place,
Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
For the coming up of the people who invade us.
17For though the fig tree does not flourish,
Nor fruit be in the vines;
The labour of the olive fails,
The fields yield no food;
The flocks are cut off from the fold,
And there is no herd in the stalls:
18Yet I will rejoice in YAHWEH.
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19YAHWEH, the Lord, is my strength.
He makes my feet like deer’s feet,
And enables me to go in high places.
For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
- 3:2 YAHWEH, the name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
- 3:3 God, the English translation of eloah (Hebrew), which is related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 3:13 MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎