Habacuc 3

Oratio Habacuc prophetæ, pro ignorantiis.

A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet for Ignorances.

For ignorances: That is, for the sins of his people. In the Hebrew, it is Sigionoth: which some take to signify a musical instrument, or tune; with which this sublime prayer and canticle was to be sung.

Domine, audivi auditionem tuam, et timui. Domine, opus tuum, in medio annorum vivifica illud; in medio annorum notum facies: cum iratus fueris, misericordiæ recordaberis.

O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember mercy.

Thy hearing: That is, thy oracles, the great and wonderful things thou hast revealed to me; and I was struck with a reverential fear and awe.
Thy work: The great work of the redemption of man, which thou wilt bring to life and light in the midst of the years, when our calamities and miseries shall be at their height.

Deus ab austro veniet, et Sanctus de monte Pharan: operuit cælos gloria ejus, et laudis ejus plena est terra.

God will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.

God will come from the south: God himself will come to give us his law, and to conduct us into the true land of promise: as heretofore he came from the South (in the Hebrew Theman) and from mount Pharan to give his law to his people in the desert. See Deut. 33.2.

Splendor ejus ut lux erit, cornua in manibus ejus: ibi abscondita est fortitudo ejus.

His brightness shall be as the light: horns are in his hands: There is his strength hid:

Horns: 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.

Ante faciem ejus ibit mors, et egredietur diabolus ante pedes ejus.

Death shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth before his feet.

Death shall go before his face: Both death and the devil shall be the executioners of his justice against his enemies: as they were heretofore against the Egyptians and Chanaanites.

Stetit, et mensus est terram; aspexit, et dissolvit gentes, et contriti sunt montes sæculi: incurvati sunt colles mundi ab itineribus æternitatis ejus.

He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.

He beheld: One look of his eye is enough to melt all the nations, and to reduce them to nothing. For all heaven and earth disappear when they come before his light. Apoc. 20.11.
The ancient mountains: By the mountains and hills are signified the great ones of the world, that persecute the church, whose power was quickly crushed by the Almighty.

Pro iniquitate vidi tentoria Æthiopiæ; turbabuntur pelles terræ Madian.

I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of the land of Madian shall be troubled.

Ethiopia: the land of the Blacks, and Madian, are here taken for the enemies of God and his people: who shall perish for their iniquity.

Numquid in fluminibus iratus es, Domine? aut in fluminibus furor tuus? vel in mari indignatio tua? Qui ascendes super equos tuos, et quadrigæ tuæ salvatio.

Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy horses: and thy chariots are salvation.

With the rivers: He alludes to the wonders wrought heretofore by the Lord in favour of his people Israel, when the waters of the rivers, that is, 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?

Suscitans suscitabis arcum tuum, juramenta tribubus quæ locutus es; fluvios scindes terræ.

Thou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the earth.

Viderunt te, et doluerunt montes; gurges aquarum transiit: dedit abyssus vocem suam; altitudo manus suas levavit.

The mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up its hands.

Sol et luna steterunt in habitaculo suo: in luce sagittarum tuarum ibunt, in splendore fulgurantis hastæ tuæ.

The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering spear.

In fremitu conculcabis terram; in furore obstupefacies gentes.

In thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath thou wilt astonish the nations.

Egressus es in salutem populi tui, in salutem cum christo tuo: percussisti caput de domo impii, denudasti fundamentum ejus usque ad collum.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked: thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.

The head of the house of the wicked: Such was Pharao heretofore: such shall Antichrist be hereafter.

Maledixisti sceptris ejus, capiti bellatorum ejus, venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me: exsultatio eorum, sicut ejus qui devorat pauperem in abscondito.

Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of him that devoureth the poor man in secret.

Viam fecisti in mari equis tuis, in luto aquarum multarum.

Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many waters.

Thou madest a way in the sea: To deliver thy people from the Egyptian bondage: and thou shalt work the like wonders in the spiritual way, to rescue the children of the church from their enemies.

Audivi, et conturbatus est venter meus; a voce contremuerunt labia mea. Ingrediatur putredo in ossibus meis, et subter me scateat: ut requiescam in die tribulationis, ut ascendam ad populum accinctum nostrum.

I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.

I have heard: That is, 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.
That I may go up to our people: 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.

Ficus enim non florebit, et non erit germen in vineis; mentietur opus olivæ, et arva non afferent cibum: abscindetur de ovili pecus, et non erit armentum in præsepibus.

For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.

Ego autem in Domino gaudebo; et exsultabo in Deo Jesu meo.

But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.

Deus Dominus fortitudo mea, et ponet pedes meos quasi cervorum: et super excelsa mea deducet me victor in psalmis canentem.

The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.

Habacuc 3

Settings

Text size

Line spacing

Columns

Verse flow

Verse numbers

Column width

Typeface