1 A prayer {tefillah: liturgical invocation} by Habakkuk the prophet {navi: inspired envoy}, set to Shigionoth.
2 LORD {YHWH, Reviving Lord}, I have heard the report about You, and I trembled. LORD, renew Your work in the course of these years; in the course of these years make it known. In Your wrath remember mercy {rachem: deep compassion}.
3 God {Eloah, Majestic Revealer} advances from Teman, and the Holy One {qadosh: Set-Apart Sovereign} from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory {hodo: Radiant Splendor} spreads over the heavens, and His praise fills the earth.
4 His brightness was like the light; horns {karnayim: beams of light} streamed from His hand, and there was the hiding place {khevyon: concealed refuge} of His strength.
5 Before Him {YHWH, Divine Judge} goes pestilence {daver: plague of judgment}, and burning coals go out at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth; He saw and made the nations tremble; the ancient mountains {harrei-ad: timeless endurance} were shattered, and the hills {givot: lofty heights} bowed low. His ways are everlasting.
7 Under distress, I observed the tents {oholei: nomadic dwellings} of Cushan {kushan: desert people}; the curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} angry with the rivers? Was Your anger {evratekha: burning rage} turned against the rivers, or was Your wrath against the sea when You rode on Your horses and on Your chariots of salvation?
9 You {YHWH, Divine Warrior} lay bare Your bow; sworn decrees {shevuot: binding oaths} appoint the shafts {mattot: arrow-shafts} of Your word. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and writhed; the torrent {zerem: raging flood} of waters swept by; the deep gave its voice and lifted its hands on high {rom: exaltation}.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation {zevulah: fixed dwelling place}; at the light {leor: luminous glow} of Your arrows as they went, and at the flash of Your spear.
12 In indignation {bezaam: divine displeasure}, You marched through the land {aretz: inhabited territory}; in anger You threshed the nations.
13 You {YHWH, Delivering Judge} went out for the salvation of your people and for the salvation of your anointed {mashiach: consecrated one}. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying bare the foundation up to the neck. Selah.
14 You {YHWH, Supreme Commander} pierced with his own shafts {mattav: his arrows} the head of his warriors {perazav: could also mean warriors or chieftains}; they stormed out to scatter me, and their exultation was like devouring the poor in the secret place.
15 You {YHWH, Mighty Conqueror} trod your horses through the sea, through the heap of many waters {mayim: vast expanse}.
16 I heard, and my belly {bitni: seat of fear} trembled; at the sound my lips quivered. Decay entered my bones, and beneath me I tremble; yet I will rest {anuakh: find relief} on the day of distress when it comes upon the people who invade us.
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no yield on the vines, the labor of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food {okhel: sustenance}; the flock is cut off from the fold, and there are no cattle in the stalls {barfatim: feeding enclosures}.
19 The Lord GOD {YHWH Adonai, Sustaining Sovereign} is my strength; He sets my feet like a deer and enables me to walk on my high places {bamotay: elevated strongholds}. To the choirmaster, with my stringed instruments.