Habakkuk 3:5 (YLT)

Passage

Before Him goeth pestilence, And a burning flame goeth forth at His feet.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 3:3 God from Teman doth come, The Holy One from mount Paran. Pause! Covered the heavens hath His majesty, And His praise hath filled the earth.

Habakkuk 3:4 And the brightness is as the light, He hath rays out of His hand, And there--the hiding of His strength.

Habakkuk 3:5 Before Him goeth pestilence, And a burning flame goeth forth at His feet.

Habakkuk 3:6 He hath stood, and He measureth earth, He hath seen, and He shaketh off nations, And scatter themselves do mountains of antiquity, Bowed have the hills of old, The ways of old <FI>are<Fi> His.

Habakkuk 3:7 Under sorrow I have seen tents of Cushan, Tremble do curtains of the land of Midian.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "before", "goeth", "pestilence", "burning", "flame", "forth", and "feet". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "before" and "goeth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And the brightness is as the light..." into verse 6's "He hath stood and He measureth earth...", so "before" and "goeth" 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 "goeth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.