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The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
Habakkuk 3:10 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • 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.
  • BSB The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its 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 roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
  • Isa 43:20The animals of the field shall honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
  • Josh 4:23–24For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you had crossed over, as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had crossed over;
  • Ps 93:3The floods have lifted up, Yahweh, the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves.
  • Jer 4:24I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.
  • Josh 4:18When the priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet had been lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.
  • Heb 11:29By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
  • Isa 63:11–13Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
  • Matt 27:51Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
  • Ps 74:13–15You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
  • Exod 19:16–18On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
  • Isa 64:1–2Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
  • Ps 136:13–15To him who divided the Red Sea apart; for his loving kindness endures forever;
  • Ps 66:6He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There, we rejoiced in him.
  • Ps 77:16–19The waters saw you, God. The waters saw you, and they writhed. The depths also convulsed.
  • Ps 96:11–13Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness!
  • Ps 18:15Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
  • Rev 20:11I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
  • Rev 16:12The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.
  • Exod 14:22–28The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
  • Rev 6:14The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
  • Judg 5:4–5“Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
  • Josh 3:15–16and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
  • Neh 9:11You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.
  • Isa 11:15–16Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.
  • Isa 55:12For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.
  • Nah 1:5The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.
  • Mic 1:4The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
  • Hab 3:6He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.
  • Ps 68:7–8God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.
  • Ps 97:4–5His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles.
  • Ps 114:3–8The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back.
  • Ps 65:13The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also 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.