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 have become like the gathering of summer fruit, and like the grapes that have been gleaned; there is no grape cluster to eat, no ripe early fig that my soul desires.
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:
Faithful people have disappeared from the land; there is no upright person in all mankind. They all lie in wait to shed blood; each one hunts his own 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 very good at doing harm: the ruler asks for money, the judge is ready for bribes, and the powerful man is saying to others what he wants to obtain. Thus they plot together.
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 is worse than a thorn hedge. It is the day foretold by your watchmen, the day of your punishment. Now is the time of their confusion.
5 Trust not in friends, and confide not in guides: beware of your wife, so as not to commit anything to her.
Do not trust any neighbor; put no confidence in any friend. Be careful about what you say even to the woman who lies in your arms.
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 a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the people of his own house.
7 But I will look to the Lord; I will wait upon God my Saviour: my God will listen to me.
But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. 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.
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. After I fall, I will rise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light for 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.
Because I sinned against Yahweh, I will bear his rage until he pleads my cause, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me to the light, and I will see him rescue me in his justice.
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.
Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover the one who said to me, “Where is Yahweh your God?” My eyes will look at her; she will be trampled down like the mud in 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.
A day to build your walls will come; on that day the boundaries will be extended very far.
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.
On that day your people will come to you, from Assyria and the cities in Egypt, from Egypt to the River, 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.
But the land will be desolate because of the people who are living there, because of the fruit of their actions.
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.
Shepherd your people with your rod, the flock of your inheritance. They live alone in a thicket, in the midst of a pastureland. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the old days.
15 And according to the days of your departure out of Egypt shall you see marvellous [things].
As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them 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 will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands on their mouths; their ears will 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 will lick the dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the earth. They will come out of their dens with fear; they will come with fear to you, Yahweh our God, and they will be afraid because of you.
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 you— who takes away sin, who passes over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He does not keep his anger forever, because he delights in his covenant faithfulness.
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.
You will again have compassion on us; you will trample our iniquities under your feet. You will throw 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.
You will give truth to Jacob and covenant faithfulness to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors in ancient days.
