Habakkuk

1This is the heavy message God showed to Habakkuk.

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

NoteA prophet is a person who told others what God said. The King James calls this a "burden." A burden is something heavy to carry. This message was heavy and sad.

2Habakkuk said: LORD, how long must I call for help? You do not hear me. I cry out, "People are being hurt!" But you do not save.

O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

NoteLORD in capital letters stands for God's own special name. People long ago felt that name was too special to say out loud.

3Why do you make me look at so much wrong? Why do you let bad things go on? I see people breaking and hurting. Fights and arguments are everywhere.

Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

4So the law does not work anymore. What is fair never happens. Bad people crowd around good people. So the judges decide things the wrong way.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

NoteThe law was God's rules for how people should treat each other. Judges were leaders who decided who was right when people argued.

5God answered: Look at the other nations. Watch closely, and be amazed. I am going to do something while you are alive. You would not believe it, even if someone told you.

Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

NoteNations are countries. Habakkuk means all the other lands and the people who live there.

6Look, I am bringing up the Chaldeans. They are a harsh people who move fast. They march all across the land. They take homes that are not theirs.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

NoteThe Chaldeans were people from Babylon, a land far to the east. They had a huge army that beat many countries.

7People are scared of them. They make their own rules. They decide for themselves what is right.

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

8Their horses run faster than leopards. They are meaner than wolves at night. Their riders come from far away and charge ahead. They swoop down like a big bird after food.

Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

NoteA leopard is a big spotted cat. It can run very fast for a short way.

9They all come to hurt people. They rush in like a hot desert wind. They take away prisoners, as many as grains of sand.

They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

NoteIn that land the wind from the desert was hot and dry. It burned up plants. Prisoners are people an army takes from their homes. They were marched far away to work for the winners.

10They laugh at kings. They make fun of rulers. They laugh at every strong, walled city. They pile up dirt into ramps and climb in.

And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

NoteCities back then had tall thick walls to keep enemies out. Enemies would pile dirt into a big ramp. Then they walked up and over the wall.

11Then they sweep past like the wind and keep going. But they are guilty. Their own strength is the god they trust.

Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

NoteThis means they trust only their own strength. They thank their army instead of thanking God.

12Habakkuk said: LORD my God, my Holy One, you have always been alive. We will not die. LORD, you picked these people to bring judgment. My Rock, you set them up to correct.

Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

NoteCalling God "my Rock" is a word picture. A big rock is strong and safe and does not move.

13Your eyes are too clean to look at evil. You cannot stand to watch people do wrong. So why do you watch people who cheat and lie? Why are you quiet while bad people swallow up better people?

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

NoteSwallow up is a word picture. It means strong people destroy weaker people.

14You have made people like fish in the sea. You have made them like small crawling animals with no leader.

And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

NoteCreeping things are little animals like bugs and worms. Fish and bugs have no leader to keep them safe. Anyone can scoop them up.

15The enemy pulls them all up with a hook. He catches them in his big net. He drags them in. Then he is happy and glad.

They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

NoteA hook, a net, and a drag are tools for catching fish. Here the fish stand for people. The army catches them the way a fisherman catches fish.

16So he gives gifts to his net. He burns incense to it. He does this because his net brings him a rich share and plenty of food.

Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.

NoteIncense is something people burn to make a sweet smell. Long ago people burned it as a gift for a god. This man treats his fishing net like a god, because it made him rich.

17Will he keep on emptying his net to fill it again? Will he go on killing nations and never show mercy?

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

NoteMercy means being kind to someone when you could hurt them instead.

1This is a prayer of Habakkuk. He was a prophet, someone who told people what God said. It was sung to a tune called Shigionoth.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.

NoteShigionoth was the name of a tune. This prayer was meant to be sung, like a song in church. Nobody today knows how the tune sounded.

2LORD, I have heard what you have done. It made me afraid. Please do such things again in our own time. Let people see them now. When you are angry, please remember to be kind.

O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

NoteWhen you see LORD in big letters, it stands for God's own name. Long ago his people were careful not to say that name out loud.

3God came from the land of Teman. The Holy One came from Mount Paran. Selah. His shining glory covered the heavens. The whole earth was full of praise for him.

God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

NoteTeman and Mount Paran are dry, rocky places south of Israel. That is the desert where God met his people long ago. Selah is a word that shows up in old songs. It may have meant "pause here" for the music.

4His brightness shone like sunlight. Rays of light flashed out from his hand. That is where his power was hidden.

And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.

NoteThe King James Bible says God "had horns coming out of his hand." Horns here does not mean animal horns. It means bright beams of light, shooting out like the points of a star.

5Sickness went out ahead of him. Burning fever followed close behind his steps.

Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

NoteThe old word here is "pestilence." That means a sickness that spreads fast and makes many people sick at once. The song pictures sickness walking ahead of God like a servant walks ahead of a king.

6He stood still and measured the earth. He looked, and the nations shook with fear. The old, old mountains broke into pieces. The hills that had stood forever sank down. God has always acted this way, and always will.

He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

7I saw the tents of the people of Cushan in trouble. The cloth walls of the tents of Midian were shaking.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

NoteCushan and Midian were desert lands near Israel. The people there lived in tents made of cloth. When the ground shook, the tent walls shook too.

8LORD, were you angry at the rivers? Was your anger against the streams? Were you angry at the sea? You rode your horses and your chariots, the carts you use to rescue your people.

Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?

NoteA chariot is a small cart with wheels, pulled by horses. Soldiers rode in them to fight. Long ago God opened a path through the sea so his people could walk across. This song is remembering that day.

9You took out your bow and made it ready. It was just as you had promised the tribes, the big families of your people. That was your word. Selah. You split the ground open, and rivers ran through it.

Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

NoteThe King James Bible says the bow was "made quite naked." A bow was kept in a cloth or leather cover. Taking off the cover meant you were ready to shoot. God had promised long ago to help his people, and he keeps his promises.

10The mountains saw you and shook. Rushing floodwater swept past. The deep sea roared out loud. It lifted its waves up high.

The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

NoteSongs like this one talk about hills and seas as if they were alive. The sea roars like a voice. The waves lift up like hands.

11The sun and the moon stood still in their places. Your arrows flashed as they flew. Your spear shone bright.

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

NoteThere is an old story where the sun stood still in the sky while God's people fought a battle. This song remembers that day.

12You marched across the land in anger. You crushed the nations the way grain is crushed on a floor.

Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

NoteTo thresh grain, farmers spread it on a hard flat floor. Then they walked animals over it to knock the seeds loose. It was noisy, dusty work.

13You went out to save your people. You came to rescue your anointed one, the leader you chose. You crushed the head of the wicked one's family. You stripped him bare from head to foot. Selah.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

NoteTo anoint someone, you poured olive oil on their head. That showed everyone this person was chosen to lead. Kings were anointed this way.

14You stabbed his head with his own spear. His fighters rushed out like a storm wind to scatter us. They were glad, like men about to eat up poor people in secret.

Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

Note"Staves" means long wooden poles, like spears. The enemy's own weapon was turned back on him.

15You walked through the sea with your horses. You churned up the great, deep waters.

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

16I heard all this, and my insides shook. My lips trembled at the sound. My bones felt weak inside me. I shook where I stood. Still I will wait quietly for the day of trouble. It will come on the people who attack us.

When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

NoteThe King James Bible says "rottenness entered into my bones." That is a way of saying he felt weak and wobbly all over. It is how your legs feel when you are very scared.

17The fig tree may grow no flowers. The vines may grow no grapes. The olive trees may give no fruit. The fields may grow no food at all. The sheep may be gone from the pen. No cattle may be left in the stalls.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

NoteFigs, grapes and olives were the main foods people grew. A fold is a walled pen where sheep sleep at night. Stalls are little rooms in a barn for cows. When the King James Bible says "no meat," it means no food of any kind. In 1611 the word meat meant food.

18Even then, I will be glad because of the LORD. I will be full of joy in God, who saves me.

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19The LORD God is my strength. He makes my feet steady, like the feet of a deer. He helps me walk on high places. This song is for the music leader, played with stringed instruments.

The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

NoteA hind is a mother deer. Deer can run on steep, rocky hills and never slip. "High places" means the tops of the hills. The last line tells the music leader this song is sung with instruments like harps.