Habakkuk 3
1A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet on Behalf of Those Who Are Ignorant. ▼ , ▼ 2Lord, I heard what has been said about you, and I was afraid. Lord, your work, in the midst of years, revive it. In the midst of years, you will make it known. When you have become angry, you will remember mercy. ▼ , ▼ 3God will come from the south, and the Holy One from mount Pharan. His glory has covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. ▼ 4His brightness shall be like the light; horns are in his hands. There, his strength has been hidden. ▼▼3:4 Horns, etc: That is, strength and power, which, by a Hebrew phrase, are called horns. Or beams of light, which come forth from his hands. Or it may allude to the cross, in the horns of which the hands of Christ were fastened, where his strength was hidden, by which he overcame the world, and drove out death and the devil.(Challoner)
5Death will go forth before his face. And the devil shall depart before his feet. ▼ 6He stood, and measured the earth. He looked, and dissolved the Gentiles. And the mountains of ages past have been shattered. The hills of the world became curved by the journeys of his eternity. ▼
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▼ 7I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity; the tent-skins of the land of Midian will be thrown into confusion. ▼ 8Could you have been angry with the rivers, Lord? Or was your fury within the rivers, or your indignation in the sea? He will ascend upon your horses, and your four-horse chariots are salvation. ▼▼3:8 With the rivers, etc: He alludes to the wonders wrought heretofore by the Lord in favour of his people Israel, when the waters of the rivers, viz., of Arnon and Jordan, and of the Red Sea, retired before their face: when he came as it were with his horses and chariots to save them when he took up his bow for their defence, in consequence of the oath he had made to their tribes: when the mountains trembled, and the deep stood with its waves raised up in a heap, as with hands lifted up to heaven: when the sun and the moon stood still at his command, etc., to comply with his anger, not against the rivers and sea, but against the enemies of his people. How much more will he do in favour of his Son: and against the enemies of his church?(Challoner)
9Being stirred up, you will take up your bow, the oaths you have spoken to the tribes. You will split apart the Rivers of the earth. 10They saw you, and the mountains grieved. The great body of waters crossed over. The abyss uttered its voice. The pinnacle lifted up its hands. ▼ 11The sun and the moon have stood firm in their dwelling place; with the light of your arrows, they shall go forth in the splendor of your flashing spear. 12With a roar, you will trample the earth. In your fury, you will cause the nations to be stupefied. 13You have gone forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your Christ. You struck the head of the house of the impious. You have laid bare his foundation all the way to the neck. ▼ 14You have cursed his scepters, the head of his warriors, those who approached like a whirlwind so as to scatter me. Their exultation was like one who devours the poor in secret. 15You made a way in the sea for your horses, in the mud of great waters. ▼ 16I heard, and my stomach became troubled. My lips trembled at the voice. Let decay enter into my bones and gush forth from within me. Then I may rest in the day of tribulation, so that I may ascend to our people well-prepared. ▼▼3:16 I have heard, etc: Viz., the evils that are now coming upon the Israelites for their sins; and that shall come hereafter upon all impenitent sinners; and the foresight that I have of these miseries makes me willing to die, that I may be at rest, before this general tribulation comes, in which all good things shall be withdrawn from the wicked.(Challoner)
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▼▼3:16 That I may go up to our people, etc: That I may join the happy company in the bosom of Abraham, that are girded, that is, prepared for their journey, by which they shall attend their Lord, when he shall ascend into heaven. To which high and happy place, my Jesus, that is, my Saviour, the great conqueror of death and hell, shall one day conduct me rejoicing and singing psalms of praise, ver. 18 and 19.(Challoner)
17For the fig tree will not flower, and there will be no bud on the vines. The labor of the olive tree will be misleading, and the farmland will produce no food. The sheep will be cut off from the sheepfold, and there will be no herd at the manger. 18But I will rejoice in the Lord; and I will exult in God my Jesus. ▼ 19The Lord God is my strength. And he will set my feet like those of the stag. And he, the victor, will lead me beyond my high places while singing psalms. The Prophecy of Habakkuk
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