Michaeas 7

1 Alas for me! for I am become as one gathering straw in harvest, and as [one gathering] grape-gleanings in the vintage, when there is no cluster for me to eat the first-ripe fruit: alas my soul!

Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: [there is] no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit.

2 For the godly is perished from the earth; and there is none among men that orders [his way] aright: they all quarrel even to blood: they grievously afflict every one his neighbour:

The good [man] hath perished from the earth: and [there is] none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

3 they prepare their hands for mischief, the prince asks [a reward], and the judge speaks flattering words; it is the desire of their soul:

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge [asketh] for a reward; and the great [man], he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

4 therefore I will take away their goods as a devouring moth, and as one who acts by a [rigid] rule in a day of visitation. Woe, woe, thy times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations.

The best of them [is] as a brier: the most upright [is sharper] than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen [and] thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

5 Trust not in friends, and confide not in guides: beware of thy wife, so as not to commit anything to her.

Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

6 For the son dishonours his father, the daughter will rise up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: those in his house [shall be] all a man's enemies.

For the son dishonoreth 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 I will look to the Lord; I will wait upon God my Saviour: my God will hearken to me.

Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

8 Rejoice not against me, mine enemy; for I have fallen [yet] shall arise; for though I should sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me.

Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD [will be] a light to me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he make good my cause: he also shall maintain my right, and shall bring me out to the light, [and] I shall behold his righteousness.

I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he shall plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, [and] I shall behold his righteousness.

10 And she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shall clothe herself with shame, who says, Where [is] the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall look upon her: now shall she be for trampling as mire in the ways.

Then [she that is] my enemy shall see [it], and shame shall cover her who said to me, Where is the LORD thy God? my eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

11 [It is] the day of making of brick; that day shall be thine utter destruction, and that day shall utterly abolish thine ordinances.

[In] the day that thy walls are to be built, [in] that day shall the decree be far removed.

12 And thy cities shall be levelled, and parted among the Assyrians; and thy strong cities shall be parted from Tyre to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

[In] that day [also] he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and [from] the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and [from] mountain to mountain.

13 And the land shall be utterly desolate together with them that inhabit it, because of the fruit of their doings.

Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell in it, for the fruit of their doings.

14 Tend thy people with thy rod, the sheep of thine inheritance, those that inhabit by themselves the thicket in the midst of Carmel: they shall feed in the land of Basan, and in the land of Galaad, as in the days of old.

Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, who dwell solitarily [in] the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed [in] Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

15 And according to the days of thy departure out of Egypt shall ye see marvellous [things].

According to the days of thy departure from the land of Egypt will I show to him marvelous [things].

16 The nations shall see and be ashamed; and at all their might they shall lay their hands upon their mouth, their ears shall be deafened.

The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay [their] hand upon [their] mouth, their ears shall be deaf.

17 They shall lick the dust as serpents crawling on the earth, they shall be confounded in their holes; they shall be amazed at the Lord our God, and will be afraid of thee.

They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

18 Who is a God like thee, cancelling iniquities, and passing over the sins of the remnant of his inheritance? and he has not kept his anger for a testimony, for he delights in mercy.

Who [is] a God like to thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth [in] mercy.

19 He will return and have mercy upon us; he will sink our iniquities, and they shall be cast into the depth of the sea, [even] all our sins.

He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

20 He shall give blessings truly to Jacob, and mercy to Abraam, as thou swarest to our fathers, according to the former days.

Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, [and] the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.