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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.
Habakkuk 3:10 · King James Version
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.
  • 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, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
  • Isa 43:20The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
  • Josh 4:23–24For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
  • Ps 93:3The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
  • Jer 4:24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
  • Josh 4:18And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
  • Heb 11:29By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
  • Isa 63:11–13Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
  • Matt 27:51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
  • Ps 74:13–15Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
  • Exod 19:16–18And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
  • Isa 64:1–2Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
  • Ps 136:13–15To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
  • Ps 66:6He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.
  • Ps 77:16–19The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
  • Ps 96:11–13Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
  • Ps 18:15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
  • Rev 20:11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
  • Rev 16:12And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
  • Exod 14:22–28And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
  • Rev 6:14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
  • Judg 5:4–5LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
  • Josh 3:15–16And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
  • Neh 9:11And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
  • Isa 11:15–16And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
  • Isa 55:12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
  • Nah 1:5The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
  • Mic 1:4And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
  • Hab 3:6He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
  • Ps 68:7–8O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:
  • Ps 97:4–5His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.
  • Ps 114:3–8The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
  • Ps 65:13The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; 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.