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The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.
Habakkuk 3:10 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV The mountains saw You and trembled; The overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its voice, And lifted its hands on high.
  • NASB The mountains saw You and quaked; The downpour of waters swept by. The deep raised its voice, It lifted high its hands.
  • NLT The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands in submission.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The mountains writhe and the deep waters roar and surge as God passes by in power. It depicts all creation convulsing in response to God's mighty presence.

Overview

Mountains tremble in fear and the watery deep lifts its waves like hands at God's coming. Creation itself is portrayed as reacting in awe and turmoil before its Maker. This cosmic upheaval magnifies God's sovereignty over land and sea alike, assuring the faithful that the God before whom creation quakes is mighty to save them from every foe.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 33

  • Ps 98:7–8Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it.
  • Isa 43:20The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.
  • Josh 4:23–24For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.
  • Ps 93:3The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
  • Jer 4:24I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
  • Josh 4:18When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.
  • Heb 11:29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
  • Isa 63:11–13Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,
  • Matt 27:51At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
  • Ps 74:13–15You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
  • Exod 19:16–18On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
  • Isa 64:1–2If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
  • Ps 136:13–15He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.
  • Ps 66:6He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
  • Ps 77:16–19The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.
  • Ps 96:11–13Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.
  • Ps 18:15The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
  • Rev 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
  • Rev 16:12And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.
  • Exod 14:22–28and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
  • Rev 6:14The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
  • Judg 5:4–5O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
  • Josh 3:15–16Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
  • Neh 9:11You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
  • Isa 11:15–16The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.
  • Isa 55:12You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
  • Nah 1:5The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
  • Mic 1:4The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
  • Hab 3:6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
  • Ps 68:7–8O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wasteland, Selah
  • Ps 97:4–5His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.
  • Ps 114:3–8The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back;
  • Ps 65:13The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Habakkuk videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Habakkuk 3:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HabakkukMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

'The righteous shall live by his faith' (2:4) becomes a cornerstone of the gospel in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews — the faith that lays hold of Christ.

How Habakkuk 3:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.