Habakuk 2:3

2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; ¹ 

it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. ² 

Even if the message ³  is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; ⁴ 

for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.

Habakuk 3:14

3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors ⁵  with a spear. ⁶ 

They storm forward to scatter us; ⁷ 

they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. ⁸ 

Habakuk 2:14

2:14 For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth

just as the waters fill up the sea. ⁹ 

Habakuk 3:19

3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. ¹⁰ 

He gives me the agility of a deer; ¹¹ 

he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. ¹² 

(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) ¹³ 

Habakuk 1:8

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ¹⁴  than wolves in the desert. ¹⁵ 

Their horses ¹⁶  gallop, ¹⁷ 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ¹⁸  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ¹⁹ 

Habakuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ²⁰ 

I am awed, ²¹  Lord, by what you accomplished. ²² 

In our time ²³  repeat those deeds; ²⁴ 

in our time reveal them again. ²⁵ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ²⁶ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “For the vision is still for the appointed time.” The Hebrew word עוֹד (’od, “still”) is better emended to עֵד (’ed, “witness”) in light of the parallelism (see the note on the word “turn out” in the following line). The “appointed time” refers to the time when the divine judgment anticipated in vv. 6-20 will be realized.

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “and a witness to the end and it does not lie.” The Hebrew term יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) has been traditionally understood as a verb form from the root פּוּחַ (puakh, “puff, blow”; cf. NEB “it will come in breathless haste”; NASB “it hastens toward the goal”) but recent scholarship has demonstrated that it is actually a noun meaning “witness” (cf. NIV “it speaks of the end / and will not prove false”; NRSV “it speaks of the end, and does not lie”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 106. “The end” corresponds to “the appointed time” of the preceding line and refers to the time when the prophecy to follow will be fulfilled.

[2:3]  ³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the message) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “If it should delay, wait for it.” The Hebrew word חָזוֹן (khazon, “vision, message”) is the subject of the third person verbs in v. 3 and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix in the phrase “for it.”

[3:14]  ⁵ tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (pÿrazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.

[3:14]  ⁶ tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being a corruption of an original he (ה).

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.

[3:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”

[2:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover over the sea.”

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”

[3:19]  ¹² tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”

[3:19]  sn Difficult times are coming, but Habakkuk is confident the Lord will sustain him. Habakkuk will be able to survive, just as the deer negotiates the difficult rugged terrain of the high places without injury.

[3:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”

[1:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ²² tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ²³ tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).

[3:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”