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You marched across the earth with fury; You threshed the nations in wrath.
Habakkuk 3:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger.
  • KJV Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
  • NKJV You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger.
  • NASB In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations.
  • NLT You marched across the land in anger and trampled the nations in your fury.

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

God marches through the earth in indignation, threshing the nations in His anger. It portrays God's righteous judgment trampling down the wicked nations.

Overview

Like a farmer threshing grain, God treads down the nations in wrath, a vivid picture of decisive judgment. His march through the land conveys unstoppable purpose against evil. This judgment, however fearsome, is the necessary outworking of God's holiness against wickedness, and it serves the deliverance of His people described in the next verse.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Jer 51:33For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
  • Mic 4:12–13But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
  • Neh 9:22–24You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.
  • Isa 41:15Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
  • Amos 1:3This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
  • Acts 13:19And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.
  • Ps 78:55He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
  • Num 21:23–35But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.
  • Ps 44:1–3For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
  • Josh 6:1–12Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

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 3:12YouTube · 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 3:12 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.