Habakkuk 2:20
“But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →In contrast to lifeless idols, the living LORD reigns in His holy temple — let all the earth fall silent before Him.
What Does Habakkuk 2:20 Mean?
After the breathless idols comes this majestic word: "But the LORD is in his holy temple." Against everything mute and man-made stands the living God, enthroned in His sanctuary, sovereign over all. The fitting response of the whole earth is silence — a hush of awe before His presence.
This verse answers the chapter's long catalog of human pride and idolatry with one quiet, towering truth: God reigns. The proper posture before such a God is not the boasting of Babylon but reverent stillness. Where words of complaint and protest have filled the book, now all the earth is called to be silent and let God be God. For Habakkuk, this is the turning point toward worship. When we grasp that the Lord truly sits enthroned over all, our striving quiets, and we are brought, at last, to holy silence.
In the Original Language
hekal (הֵיכָל), 'temple' — God's holy palace or sanctuary, here His heavenly throne-place over all the earth.