Micah 7
1 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.
Sorrow is mine! for I am as when they have got in the summer fruits, like the last of the grapes: there is nothing for food, not even an early fig for my desire.
2 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.
The good man is gone from the earth, there is no one upright among men: they are all waiting secretly for blood, every man is going after his brother with a net.
3 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.
Their hands are made ready to do evil; the ruler makes requests for money, and the judge is looking for a reward; and the great man gives decisions at his pleasure, and the right is twisted.
4 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.
The best of them is like a waste plant, and their upright ones are like a wall of thorns. Sorrow! the day of their fate has come; now will trouble come on them.
5 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.
Put no faith in a friend, do not let your hope be placed in a relation: keep watch on the doors of your mouth against her who is resting on your breast.
6 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.
For the son puts shame on his father, the daughter goes against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's haters are those of his family.
7 But I will look towards the Lord. I will wait for God, my Savior. My God will hear me.
But as for me, I am looking to the Lord; I am waiting for the God of my salvation: the ears of my God will be open to me.
8 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.
Do not be glad because of my sorrow, O my hater: after my fall I will be lifted up; when I am seated in the dark, the Lord will be a light to me.
9 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.
I will undergo the wrath of the Lord, because of my sin against him; till he takes up my cause and does what is right for me: when he makes me come out into the light, I will see his righteousness;
10 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.
And my hater will see it and be covered with shame; she who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? my eyes will see their desire effected on her, now she will be crushed under foot like the dust of the streets.
11 The day that your walls will be rebuilt, in that day the law will be far away.
A day for building your walls! in that day will your limits be stretched far and wide.
12 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.
In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the towns of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 And the land will be in desolation, because of its inhabitants and because of the fruit of their intentions.
But the land will become a waste because of its people, as the fruit of their works.
14 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.
Keep your people safe with your rod, the flock of your heritage, living by themselves in the woods in the middle of Carmel: let them get their food in Bashan and Gilead as in the past.
15 As in the days of your departure from the land of Egypt, I will reveal miracles to him.
As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, let us see things of wonder.
16 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.
The nations will see and be shamed because of all their strength; they will put their hands on their mouths, their ears will be stopped.
17 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.
They will take dust as their food like a snake, like the things which go flat on the earth; they will come shaking with fear out of their secret places: they will come with fear to the Lord our God, full of fear because of you.
18 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.
Who is a God like you, offering forgiveness for evil-doing and overlooking the sins of the rest of his heritage? he does not keep his wrath for ever, because his delight is in mercy.
19 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.
He will again have pity on us; he will put our sins under his feet: and you will send all our sins down into the heart of the sea.
20 You will give the truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which you swore to our fathers from the ancient days.
You will make clear your good faith to Jacob and your mercy to Abraham, as you gave your oath to our fathers from times long past.
