Habakkuk 3:17-18
Habakkuk 3 · shown in the Douay-Rheims
You have chosen NABRE. The NABRE text is copyrighted by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, so it cannot be reproduced in this app. Passages are shown in the Douay-Rheims, with a link to read the NABRE online. The text below is the Douay-Rheims.
Read Habakkuk 3:17-18 in the NABRE onlineFor the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.
Reflection
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk lists every failure and then chooses joy. The joy is not in the harvest but in the Lord, which means it survives every bad year.
Yet I will rejoice
Habakkuk lists every failure — no buds, no grapes, no olives, no figs, no sheep, no cattle — and then chooses joy. The joy is not in the harvest but in the Lord, which means it survives every bad year. This is the most defiant verse about joy in the Bible.
— Find My Scripture