Micah 7
1 I'm totally miserable! I've become like someone trying to glean summer fruit after the grape harvest is over. I can't find any grapes to eat, and there are no early figs that I love.
My woe [is] to me, for I have been As gatherings of summer-fruit, As gleanings of harvest, There is no cluster to eat, The first-ripe fruit desired hath my soul.
2 All the good people in the country are gone, there's no one who does right left anywhere. Everyone is looking to murder others; they try to trap even their own brothers.
Perished hath the kind out of the land, And upright among men — there are none, All of them for blood lie in wait, Each his brother they hunt [with] a net.
3 They are experts at evil; both officials and judges ask for bribes; the powerful demand their evil desires; and they scheme together to get what they want.
On the evil [are] both hands to do [it] well, The prince is asking — also the judge — for recompence, And the great — he is speaking the mischief of his soul, And they wrap it up.
4 Even the best of them is like a thorny bush, the most honest like a thorn hedge. Your day of judgment that was announced by the prophets, your time of punishment, has arrived. You'rethrown into complete confusion.
Their best one [is] as a brier, The upright one — than a thorn-hedge, The day of thy watchmen — Thy visitation — hath come. Now is their perplexity.
5 Don't trust a neighbor, don't rely on a friend. Watch what you say even to the one who lies in your arms.
Believe not in a friend, trust not in a leader, From her who is lying in thy bosom keep the openings of thy mouth.
6 For a son treats his father with contempt; a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law. Your enemies are members of your own family.
For a son is dishonouring a father, A daughter hath stood against her mother, A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, The enemies of each [are] the men of his house.
7 But as for me, I look to the Lord. I will wait for the God who saves me. My God will hear me.
And I — in Jehovah I do watch, I do wait for the God of my salvation, Hear me doth my God.
8 Don't gloat over me, my enemies! Even though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.
Thou dost not rejoice over me, O mine enemy, When I have fallen, I have risen, When I sit in darkness Jehovah is a light to me.
9 I will endure the Lord's anger because I have sinned against him. But after that he will argue my case and give me justice. He will bring me into the light and I will see his integrity.
The indignation of Jehovah I do bear, For I have sinned against Him, Till that He doth plead my cause, And hath executed my judgment, He doth bring me forth to the light, I look on His righteousness.
10 Then my enemies will see it and cover their faces in shame for taunting me, asking, “Where is the Lord your God?” With my own eyes I will see what happens to them; they will be trodden down like mud in the streets.
And see doth mine enemy, And cover her doth shame, Who saith unto me, 'Where [is] Jehovah thy God?' Mine eyes do look on her, Now she is for a treading-place, As mire of the out-places.
11 On that day it will be time to build your walls. On that day your boundaries will be extended.
The day to build thy walls! That day — removed is the limit.
12 On that day people will come from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt to the Euphrates River, from sea to sea, from mountain to mountain.
That day — even unto thee it doth come in, From Asshur and the cities of the fortress, And from the fortress even unto the river, And from sea to sea, and mount to mount.
13 But the rest of the earth will become desolate because of what those who live there have done.
And the land hath been for a desolation, Because of its inhabitants, Because of the fruit of their doings.
14 Protect your people with your shepherd's rod. Take care of your flock, your special people, who live alone in the wilderness and in cultivated land. Let them feed in Basham and Gilead as they did long ago.
Rule Thou Thy people with Thy rod, The flock of Thine inheritance, Dwelling alone [in] a forest in the midst of Carmel, They enjoy Bashan and Gilead as in days of old.
15 Like the time when you left the land of Egypt, I will do miracles for you.
According to the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt, I do shew it wonderful things.
16 The nations will see, and they will be humiliated despite their strength. They will cover their mouths with their hands, and their ears shall become deaf.
See do nations, and they are ashamed of all their might, They lay a hand on the mouth, their ears are deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like snakes; they will be like the creepy-crawlies of the earth. They will come trembling from their fortresses to meet the Lord our God, fearful and afraid before him.
They lick dust as a serpent, as fearful things of earth, They tremble from their enclosures, Of Jehovah our God they are afraid, Yea, they are afraid of Thee.
18 Who is a God like you who forgives sin and passes over the rebellion of those who are left of his special people? You do not remain angry forever because you delight in showing faithful love.
Who [is] a God like Thee? taking away iniquity, And passing by the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance, He hath not retained for ever His anger, Because He — He delighteth [in] kindness.
19 You will have compassion on us again. You will tread our sins under your feet, and you will throw our sins into the depths of the sea.
He doth turn back, He pitieth us, He doth subdue our iniquities, And Thou castest into the depths of the sea all their sins.
20 You will give your trustworthy truth to the people of Jacob, your faithful love to the people of Abraham, as you promised our forefathers long ago.
Thou givest truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham, That thou hast sworn to our fathers, from the days of antiquity!
