Psalm 3[a]

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.(A)

Lord, how many are my foes!
    How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
    “God will not deliver him.(B)[b]

But you, Lord, are a shield(C) around me,
    my glory, the One who lifts my head high.(D)
I call out to the Lord,(E)
    and he answers me from his holy mountain.(F)

I lie down and sleep;(G)
    I wake again,(H) because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear(I) though tens of thousands
    assail me on every side.(J)

Arise,(K) Lord!
    Deliver me,(L) my God!
Strike(M) all my enemies on the jaw;
    break the teeth(N) of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance.(O)
    May your blessing(P) be on your people.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 3:1 In Hebrew texts 3:1-8 is numbered 3:2-9.
  2. Psalm 3:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 4 and 8.

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

The Lord’s Answer

“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.(A)
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.(B)
I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](C)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(D)
    to seize dwellings not their own.(E)
They are a feared and dreaded people;(F)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
Their horses are swifter(G) than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves(H) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
    they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners(I) like sand.
10 They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.(J)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps(K) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(L) and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(M)

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?(N)
    My God, my Holy One,(O) you[c] will never die.(P)
You, Lord, have appointed(Q) them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock,(R) have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure(S) to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.(T)
Why then do you tolerate(U) the treacherous?(V)
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?(W)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked(X) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,(Y)
    he catches them in his net,(Z)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense(AA) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
    and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
    destroying nations without mercy?(AB)

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
  2. Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we

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

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 their's.

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

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.

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

10 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.

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

12 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.

13 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?

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

15 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.

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

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

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Trials and Temptations

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds,(A) because you know that the testing of your faith(B) produces perseverance.(C) Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature(D) and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,(E) who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.(F) But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt,(G) because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded(H) and unstable(I) in all they do.

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.(J) 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.(K) 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat(L) and withers(M) the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed.(N) In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

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Footnotes

  1. James 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

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