Chapter 5

Life of the Prophet

¹ Habakkuk the prophet was from the field of Betherouchar, of the tribe of Simeon. And before the captivity he saw a vision concerning the capture of Jerusalem, and he mourned exceedingly. And when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, he fled to Ostragene, and was a sojourner in the land of Ishmael. But when the Chaldeans returned, and the remnant who were in Jerusalem went down into Egypt, this man remained sojourning in his own land and ministering to the reapers of his people. And when he took food to carry to the workers, he prophesied to the Jews, saying: I am going to a far country, and I will come again quickly; but if I tarry, carry to the reapers their meal. And having come to be in Babylon, and having given the meal to Daniel, he stood over the reapers as they were eating, and told no one what had happened. And from this he understood that the people would return more quickly from Babylon. And two years before the return he died, and was buried there in the field. And he gave a sign to those in Judea, that they would see a light in the temple, and so behold the glory of the temple. And concerning the consummation of the temple he foretold that it would come about by a western nation; and that then the veil of the inner sanctuary would be torn into small pieces, and the capitals of the two pillars would be taken away, and no one would know where they were; and that these would be carried off into the wilderness by an angel, where at the beginning the tabernacle of testimony was set up, and at the end the Lord would be made known by them. [1]