Notes on Habakkuk
From the Original 1599 Geneva Bible Notes


Hab 1:1

1:1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

The Argument - The Prophet complains to God, considering the great felicity of the wicked, and the miserable oppression of the godly, who endure all types of affliction and cruelty, and yet can see no end. Therefore he had this revelation shown to him by God, that the Chaldeans would come and take them away as captives, so that they could look for no end of their troubles as yet, because of their stubbornness and rebellion against the Lord. And lest the godly should despair, seeing this horrible confusion, he comforts them by this, that God will punish the Chaldeans their enemies, when their pride and cruelty will be at height. And for this reason he exhorts the faithful to patience by his own example, and shows them a form of prayer, with which they should comfort themselves.

Hab 1:2

1:2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out to thee {a} [of] violence, and thou wilt not save!

Hab 1:4

1:4 Therefore the law is feeble, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth {b} surround the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth {c} perverted

Hab 1:5

1:5 Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] {d} ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

Hab 1:7

1:7 They [are] terrible and dreadful: {e} their judgment and their dignity shall proceed from themselves.

Hab 1:9

1:9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the {f} east wind, and they shall gather the captives {g} as the sand.

Hab 1:10

1:10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap {h} dust, and take it.

Hab 1:11

1:11 Then shall [his] mind change, and he shall {i} pass over, and offend, [imputing] this his power to his god.

Hab 1:12

1:12 [Art] thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not {k} die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Hab 1:14

1:14 And makest men as the {l} fishes of the sea, as the creeping animals, [that have] no ruler over them?

Hab 1:16

1:16 Therefore they sacrifice to their {m} net, and burn incense to their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their food plenteous.

Hab 1:17

1:17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay {n} the nations?

Hab 2:1

2:1 I will stand upon my {a} watch, and seat myself upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Hab 2:2

2:2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make [it] plain upon tablets, that he may run {b} that readeth it.

Hab 2:3

2:3 For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at the {c} end it shall speak, and not lie: though it may tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Hab 2:4

2:4 Behold, {d} his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Hab 2:5

2:5 Yea also, because {e} he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth to him all nations, and heapeth to him all people:

Hab 2:6

2:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth [that which is] not his! {f} how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

Hab 2:7

2:7 Shall {g} they not rise suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall oppress thee, and thou shalt be for booty to them?

Hab 2:10

2:10 Thou {h} gavest shameful counsel to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned [against] thy soul.

Hab 2:11

2:11 For the {i} stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

Hab 2:13

2:13 Behold, [is it] not from the {k} LORD of hosts that the people shall labour [only] for fire, and the nations shall weary themselves for nothing?

Hab 2:14

2:14 For the earth shall {l} be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Hab 2:15

2:15 Woe to him that giveth his neighbour {m} drink, that puttest thy bottle to [him], and makest [him] drunk also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

Hab 2:16

2:16 Thou art filled with shame {n} for glory: drink thou also, and let thy shame come upon thee: the cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned to thee, and utter shame [shall be] on thy glory.

Hab 2:17

2:17 For the {o} violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, [which] made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell in it.

Hab 2:18

2:18 What profiteth the graven {p} image that its maker hath engraved it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth in it, to make dumb idols?

Hab 2:19

2:19 Woe to him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! {q} Behold, it [is] laid over with gold and silver, and [there is] no breath at all within it.

Hab 3:1

3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet {a} upon Shigionoth.

Hab 3:2

3:2 {b} O LORD, I have heard thy speech, [and] was afraid: O LORD, revive thy {c} work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

Hab 3:3

3:3 God came from {d} Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

Hab 3:4

3:4 And [his] brightness was as the light; {e} he had horns [coming] out of his hand: and there [was] the hiding of his power.

Hab 3:6

3:6 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 {f} ways [are] everlasting.

Hab 3:7

3:7 {g} I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: [and] the curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

Hab 3:8

3:8 Was the LORD displeased against the {h} rivers? [was] thy anger against the rivers? [was] thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride {i} upon thy horses [and] thy chariots of salvation?

Hab 3:9

3:9 Thy {k} bow was made quite naked, [according] to the {l} oaths of the tribes, [even thy] word. Selah. Thou {m} didst cleave the earth with rivers.

Hab 3:10

3:10 The mountains saw thee, [and] they trembled: the overflowing of the water {n} passed by: the deep uttered his voice, [and] lifted up his hands on high.

Hab 3:11

3:11 The {o} sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation: {p} at the light of thy arrows they went, [and] at the shining of thy glittering spear.

Hab 3:13

3:13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, [even] for salvation with thy {q} anointed; thou didst wound the head out of the house of the wicked, by laying bare the foundation to the {r} neck. Selah.

Hab 3:14

3:14 Thou didst {s} strike through with his staffs the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing [was] as to devour the poor secretly.

Hab 3:16

3:16 When I {t} 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 {u} the day of trouble: when he cometh up {x} to the people, he will invade them with his troops.

Hab 3:18

3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy {y} in the God of my salvation.

Hab 3:19

3:19 The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' [feet], and he will make me to walk upon my high places. {z} To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.