Habakkuk 3:5 (LSB)

Passage

Before Him goes pestilence, And plague comes after Him.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 3:3 God comes from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise.

Habakkuk 3:4 His brightness is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His strength.

Habakkuk 3:5 Before Him goes pestilence, And plague comes after Him.

Habakkuk 3:6 He stood and measured out the earth; He looked and startled the nations. So the perpetual mountains were shattered; The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.

Habakkuk 3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan under wickedness; The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "before", "goes", "pestilence", "plague", "comes", and "after". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "before" and "goes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "His brightness is like the sunlight He..." into verse 6's "He stood and measured out the earth...", so "before" and "goes" 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 "before" and "goes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.