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! I live where the summer fruits are gathered, And the vintage is gleaned; There is no cluster to eat; I long for the first-ripe fig.
2 For the godly is perished from the earth; and there is none amongst men that orders [his way] aright: they all quarrel even to blood: they grievously afflict every one his neighbour:
The good man is perished from the land, And there is none upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every one hunteth 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:
Their hands are diligent for evil; The prince asketh a bribe, And the judge decideth for money! The great man giveth judgment according to his desire; They conspire to pervert justice.
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, your times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations.
The best of them is like a brier; The most upright of them is sharper than a thorn-hedge. The day of recompense, announced by thy watchmen, cometh; Then shall come their perplexity.
5 Trust not in friends, and confide not in guides: beware of your wife, so as not to commit anything to her.
Trust ye not in a friend! Put no confidence in a guide! From her that lieth in thy bosom Keep the doors of thy mouth!
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 his father, The daughter riseth up against her mother, And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; The inmates of a man's house are his foes.
7 But I will look to the Lord; I will wait upon God my Saviour: my God will listen to me.
I will look to Jehovah; I will hope in 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 over me, O my enemy! Though I have fallen, I shall arise; Though I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be my light.
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 Jehovah, Because I have sinned against him, Until he maintain my cause, and execute judgment for me, Until he bring me to the light, And I behold his mercy.
10 And she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shall clothe herself with shame, who says, Where [is] the Lord your God? mine eyes shall look upon her: now shall she be for trampling as mire in the ways.
She that is my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her, That said to me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall gaze upon her; Soon shall she be trodden down, as the mire of the streets.
11 [It is] the day of making of brick; that day shall be your utter destruction, and that day shall utterly abolish your ordinances.
The day cometh when thy walls are to be built; In that day shall the decree be far removed.
12 And your cities shall be levelled, and parted amongst the Assyrians; and your strong cities shall be parted from Tyre to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
In that day shall they come to thee From Assyria, and the cities of Egypt, And from Egypt to the river, From sea to sea, 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.
But first the land shall be desolate on account of its inhabitants, For the fruit of their doings.
14 Tend your people with your rod, the sheep of your 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 crook, The flock of thine inheritance, That dwell solitarily in the forest 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 your departure out of Egypt shall you see marvellous [things].
As in the day when thou camest from Egypt, So will I show thee wonders.
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 ashamed of all their might: They shall lay their hands upon their mouths; 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 you.
They shall lick the dust like the serpent; Like the creeping things of the earth, they shall come trembling from their strongholds; To Jehovah our God shall they come with awe, And shall fear on account of thee.
18 Who is a God like you, 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 thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by transgression, In the remnant of his inheritance? He retaineth not his anger forever, For 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 again have compassion on us, He will blot out our iniquities; Yea, thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 He shall give blessings truly to Jacob, and mercy to Abraam, as you sware to our fathers, according to the former days.
Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, And mercy to Abraham, Which thou swarest to our fathers from the days of old.
