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 is me! for I am as in the gathering of the summer-fruits, as in the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fruit for which my soul longeth.
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 pious hath disappeared out of the land; and the upright among men there is none; all of them lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
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.
For the evil of your hands you expect good? while the prince demandeth [bribes], and the judge acteth for pay; and the great man is only speaking the wilful pleasure of his soul: and so do they make a network [of wrong].
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.
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is [sharper] than a thorn-hedge: the day of thy watchmen, thy punishment, is come; now shall be perplexity among them.
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.
Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a confidant: from her that lieth in thy bosom guard the doors of thy mouth.
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 disgraceth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
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—I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: 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.
Rejoice not, O my enemy, over me: though I am fallen, I rise again: though I should sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me.
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.
The indignation of the Lord will I bear, because I have sinned against him; until that he plead my cause, and execute justice for me: [when] he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
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.
Then she that is my enemy will see it, and shame shall cover her, who said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? My eyes shall complacently see her [suffer]: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
11 The day for rebuilding your walls will come— the day for extending your boundary.
The day that thy fences are to be built—that same day, the ordained, is yet far removed.
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.
It is a day when men shall come to thee from Assyria, and the cities of Mazor, and from Mazor 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.
While the land [of the nations] shall be made desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their doings.
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.
Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell in solitude in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gil'ad, as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders.
As in the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I let them see marvelous things.
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.
Nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deafened.
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 shall lick the dust like the serpent; like those that crawl on the earth, shall they come forth trembling out of their close places: unto the Lord our God shall they hasten in dread, and shall be afraid of thee.
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?
Who is a god like unto thee, pardoning iniquity, and forgiving transgression to the residue of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in kindness.
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 again have mercy on us, he will suppress our iniquities; yea, thou wilt cast all their 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.
Thou wilt show faithfulness unto Jacob, and kindness unto Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers in the days of old.
