Habakkuk 3:13 (WEB)

Passage

You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 3:11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky, at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.

Habakkuk 3:12 You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger.

Habakkuk 3:13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.

Habakkuk 3:14 You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.

Habakkuk 3:15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning mighty waters.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "went", "salvation", "people", "anointed", "crushed", "head", and "land". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "went" and "salvation", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "You marched through the land in wrath..." into verse 14's "You pierced the heads of his warriors...", so "went" and "salvation" 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 "went" and "salvation" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.