Habakkuk 3:16-19

Habakkuk Declares His Confidence

3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; ¹ 

the sound made my lips quiver.

My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, ² 

and I shook as I tried to walk. ³ 

I long ⁴  for the day of distress

to come upon ⁵  the people who attack us.

3:17 When ⁶  the fig tree does not bud,

and there are no grapes on the vines;

when the olive trees do not produce, ⁷ 

and the fields yield no crops; ⁸ 

when the sheep disappear ⁹  from the pen,

and there are no cattle in the stalls,

3:18 I will rejoice because of ¹⁰  the Lord;

I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!

3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. ¹¹ 

He gives me the agility of a deer; ¹² 

he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. ¹³ 

(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) ¹⁴ 

[3:16]  ¹ tn Heb “my insides trembled.”

[3:16]  ² tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”

[3:16]  ³ tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.

[3:16]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “to come up toward.”

[3:17]  ⁶ tn Or “though.”

[3:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “the produce of the olive disappoints.”

[3:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “food.”

[3:17]  ⁹ tn Or “are cut off.”

[3:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in.”

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”

[3:19]  ¹² tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”

[3:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”

[3:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”