Micah 7
1 Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.
Woe to me, for I have become just like one who gleans the clusters of the vintage in autumn. There is no cluster of grapes to consume; my soul desired figs out of season.
2 The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
The holy ones pass away from the land, and there is no one righteous among men. All wait in ambush for blood; a man hunts his brother to death.
3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
The evil of their hands, they call good. The leader is demanding, and the judge is yielding, and the great is speaking the desire of his soul, and they have confused it.
4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.
Whoever is best among them is like a thorny plant, and he who is righteous is like a thorny hedge. The day of your inspection, your visitation, arrives. Now will be their ruination.
5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.
Do not be willing to believe a friend. And do not be willing to confide in a commander. From her, who sleeps in your bosom, keep the doors of your mouth closed.
6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
For the son acts with contempt for the father, and the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies are those of his own household.
7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
But I will look towards the Lord. I will wait for God, my Savior. My God will hear me.
8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
You, my enemy, should not rejoice over me because I have fallen. I will rise up, when I sit in darkness. The Lord is my light.
9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.
I will carry the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he may judge my case and execute judgment for me. He will lead me into the light. I will behold his justice.
10 Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame— she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.
And my enemy will look, and she will be covered with confusion, she who says to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look upon her. Now she will be trampled underfoot like the mud of the streets.
11 The day for rebuilding your walls will come— the day for extending your boundary.
The day that your walls will be rebuilt, in that day the law will be far away.
12 On that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
In that day also, they will come towards you even from Assur, and even to the fortified cities, and from the fortified cities even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.
And the land will be in desolation, because of its inhabitants and because of the fruit of their intentions.
14 Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
With your rod, pasture your people, the flock of your inheritance, living alone in the narrow forest, in the midst of Carmel. They will graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the ancient days.
15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders.
As in the days of your departure from the land of Egypt, I will reveal miracles to him.
16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
The nations will look, and they will be confounded at the strength of them all. They will place hand over mouth; their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.
They will lick the dust like serpents, and, like the creeping things of the earth, they will be disturbed in their houses. They will dread the Lord our God, and they will fear you.
18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance— who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
What God is like you, who takes away iniquity and passes over the sin of the remnant of your inheritance? No longer will he send forth his fury, because he is willing to be merciful.
19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.
He will turn back and have mercy on us. He will put away our iniquities, and he will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.
You will give the truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which you swore to our fathers from the ancient days.
