Habakkuk 1:7 (GNV)

Passage

They are terrible and fearefull: their iudgement and their dignitie shall proceede of theselues.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:5 Beholde among the heathen, and regarde, and wonder, and maruaile: for I will worke a worke in your dayes: yee will not beleeue it, though it be tolde you.

Habakkuk 1:6 For lo, I raise vp the Caldeans, that bitter and furious nation, which shall goe vpon the breadth of the lande to possesse the dwelling places, that are not theirs.

Habakkuk 1:7 They are terrible and fearefull: their iudgement and their dignitie shall proceede of theselues.

Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses also are swifter then the leopards, and are more fierce then the wolues in the euening: and their horsemen are many: and their horsemen shall come from farre: they shall flie as the eagle hasting to meate.

Habakkuk 1:9 They come all to spoyle: before their faces shalbe an Eastwinde, and they shall gather the captiuitie, as the sand.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "terrible", "fearefull", "iudgement", "dignitie", "shall", "proceede", and "theselues". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "terrible" and "fearefull", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "For lo I raise vp the Caldeans..." into verse 8's "Their horses also are swifter then the...", so "terrible" and "fearefull" 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 "terrible" and "fearefull" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.