Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Habakkuk 3:2 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 2. 2O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse asks the LORD to renew and make known his work within the years and to remember mercy in wrath.
Read It With
- Habakkuk 3:1-2
Read Habakkuk 3:2 with 3:1-2. This verse asks the LORD to renew and make known his work within the years and to remember mercy in wrath. The full unit establishes this movement: Habakkuk turns the dialogue into prayer: awed by the report of God's work, he asks that it be renewed and made known within the years, while asking that wrath remember mercy.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The prophet's response is not a solved chronology but worshipful petition: divine action is requested together with mercy. Within that movement, this verse asks the LORD to renew and make known his work within the years and to remember mercy in wrath.
Follow the Context
- A superscription identifies a prayer by Habakkuk the prophet with an uncertain musical or genre term.
- Habakkuk says he has heard the report and stands in awe.
- He asks the LORD to renew and make known the work within the years.
- He asks that mercy be remembered in wrath.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“in wrath remember mercy”
In plain language: The petition refuses to choose between moral seriousness and mercy.
Asks the LORD to renew and make known his work within the years and to remember mercy in wrath. Prayer for divine action should hold justice and mercy together.
Why it matters: The wording carries textual, theological, ethical, or predictive risk that requires its full unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
'In the midst of the years' does not predict a modern revival, judgment date, or end-time schedule.
What Remains True
Prayer for divine action should hold justice and mercy together.
How It Can Shape Life
- Ask for truthful accountability, protection, repentance, and mercy without claiming a timetable.
Teach It Back
Explain Habakkuk 3:2's contribution to Habakkuk 3:1-2: Asks the LORD to renew and make known his work within the years and to remember mercy in wrath. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Habakkuk 3:1-2 — Prayer for Renewed Work and MercySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
'Revive' can mean renew or bring to life, and no particular event is dated.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Habakkuk 3:1-2, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Habakkuk
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated terms, clause relationships, and base forms behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hab.xml, 3:1-2
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Habakkuk with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, Hebrew, text-critical, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Habakkuk PDF, printed pp. 1774, translation and notes on 3:1-2
Open source ↗