Habakkuk 1:9 (DRB)

Passage

They shall all come to the prey, their face is like a burning wind: and they shall gather together captives as the sand.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:7 They are dreadful, and terrible: from themselves shall their judgment, and their burden proceed.

Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses are lighter than leopards, and swifter than evening wolves; and their horsemen shall be spread abroad: for their horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that maketh haste to eat.

Habakkuk 1:9 They shall all come to the prey, their face is like a burning wind: and they shall gather together captives as the sand.

Habakkuk 1:10 And their prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be his laughingstock: and he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take it.

Habakkuk 1:11 Then shall his spirit be changed, and he shall pass, and fall: this is his strength of his god.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "come", "prey", "face", "like", "burning", and "wind". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Their horses are lighter than leopards and..." into verse 10's "And their prince shall triumph over kings...", so "shall" and "come" belong inside that flow. In Habakkuk context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.