Habakkuk 1:7 (YLT)

Passage

Terrible and fearful it <FI>is<Fi> , From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:5 Look ye on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, Ye do not believe though it is declared.

Habakkuk 1:6 For, lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own.

Habakkuk 1:7 Terrible and fearful it <FI>is<Fi> , From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.

Habakkuk 1:8 Swifter than leopards have been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to consume.

Habakkuk 1:9 Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "terrible", "fearful", "judgment", "excellency", and "forth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "terrible" and "fearful", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "For lo I am raising up the..." into verse 8's "Swifter than leopards have been its horses...", so "terrible" and "fearful" 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 "fearful" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.