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!

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 has my soul desired.

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 neighbor:

The kind have perished out of the land, And upright among men—there are none, All of them lie in wait for blood, They each hunt 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:

On the evil [are] both hands to do [it] well, The prince is asking—also the judge—for repayment, And the great—he is speaking the mischief of his soul, And 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, your times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations.

Their best one [is] as a brier, The upright one—than a thorn-hedge, The day of your watchmen—Your visitation—has come. Now is their perplexity.

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

Do not believe in a friend, Do not trust in a leader, From her who is lying in your bosom keep the openings of your mouth.

6 For the son dishonors 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 is dishonoring a father, A daughter has 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 I will look to the Lord; I will wait upon God my Saviour: my God will listen to me.

And I—in YHWH I watch, I wait for the God of my salvation, My God hears 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.

You do not rejoice over me, O my enemy, When I have fallen, I have risen, When I sit in darkness YHWH is 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 bear the indignation of YHWH, For I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my cause, And has executed my judgment, He brings me forth to the light, I look on His righteousness.

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.

And my enemy sees, And shame covers her, Who says to me, “Where [is] your God YHWH?” My eyes look on her, Now she is for a treading-place, As mire of the out-places.

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 to build your walls! That day—removed is the limit.

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

That day—even to you it comes in, From Asshur and the cities of the fortress, And from the fortress even to the river, And from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain.

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

And the land has been for a desolation, Because of its inhabitants, Because of 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.

Rule Your people with Your rod, The flock of Your inheritance, Dwelling alone [in] a forest in the midst of Carmel, They enjoy Bashan and Gilead as in days of old.

15 And according to the days of your departure out of Egypt shall you see marvelous [things].

“According to the days of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt, I show it wonderful 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.

Nations see, and they are ashamed of all their might, They lay a hand on the mouth, their ears are 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 lick dust as a serpent, as fearful things of earth, They tremble from their enclosures, They are afraid of our God YHWH, Indeed, they are afraid 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? Taking away iniquity, And passing by the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance, He has not retained His anger forever, Because He delights [in] kindness.

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 turns back, He pities us, He subdues our iniquities, And You cast all their 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 give truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham, That You have sworn to our fathers, from the days of antiquity!