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!
Wo to me, for Y am maad as he that gaderith in heruest rasyns of grapis; there is no clustre for to ete; my soule desiride figis ripe bifore othere.
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 hooli perischide fro erthe, and riytful is not in men; alle aspien, ether setten tresoun, in blood, a man huntith his brother to deth.
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:
The yuel of her hondis thei seien good; the prince axith, and the domesman is in yeldyng; and a greet man spak the desir of his soule, and thei sturbliden togidere it.
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.
He that is best in hem, is as a paluyre; and he that is riytful, is as a thorn of hegge. The dai of thi biholdyng, thi visityng cometh, now schal be distriyng of hem.
5 Trust not in friends, and confide not in guides: beware of your wife, so as not to commit anything to her.
Nyle ye bileue to a frend, and nyle ye truste in a duyk; fro hir that slepith in thi bosum, kepe thou closyngis of thi 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 the sone doith wrong to the fadir, and the douyter schal rise ayens hir modir, and the wijf of the sone ayens the modir of hir hosebonde; the enemyes of a man ben the homeli, ether houshold meynee, of hym.
7 But I will look to the Lord; I will wait upon God my Saviour: my God will listen to me.
Forsothe Y schal biholde to the Lord, Y schal abide God my sauyour; the Lord my God schal here 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.
Thou, myn enemye, be not glad on me, for Y felle doun, Y schal rise; whanne Y sitte in derknessis, the Lord is my liyt.
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.
Y schal bere wraththe of the Lord, for Y haue synned to hym, til he deme my cause, and make my doom; he schal lede out me in to liyt, Y schal se riytwisnesse of hym.
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 myn enemye schal biholde me, and sche schal be hilid with confusioun, which seith to me, Where is thi Lord God? Myn iyen schulen se hir, now sche schal be in to defoulyng, as clei of stretis.
11 [It is] the day of making of brick; that day shall be your utter destruction, and that day shall utterly abolish your ordinances.
Dai schal come, that thi wallis be bildid; in that dai lawe schal be maad afer.
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.
In that dai and Assur schal come til to thee, and `til to stronge citees, and fro stronge citees til to flood; and to see fro see, and to hil fro hil.
13 And the land shall be utterly desolate together with them that inhabit it, because of the fruit of their doings.
And erthe schal be in to desolacioun for her dwelleris, and for fruyt of the thouytis of hem.
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.
Fede thou thi puple in thi yerde, the floc of thin eritage, that dwellen aloone in wielde wode; in the myddil of Carmel thei schulen be fed of Basan and of Galaad,
15 And according to the days of your departure out of Egypt shall you see marvelous [things].
bi elde daies, bi daies of thi goyng out of the lond of Egipt. Y schal schewe to hym wondurful thingis;
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.
hethene men schulen se, and thei schulen be confoundid on al her strengthe; thei schulen putte hondis on her mouth, the eris of hem schulen be deef;
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.
thei schulen licke dust as a serpent; as crepynge thingis of erthe thei schulen be disturblid of her housis; thei schulen not desire oure Lord God, and thei schulen drede 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.
God, who is lijk thee, that doist awei wickidnesse, and berist ouer the synne of relifs of thin eritage? He shal no more sende in his stronge veniaunce, for he is willynge merci; he schal turne ayen,
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.
and haue merci on vs. He schal put doun oure wickidnessis, and schal caste fer in to depnesse of the see alle oure synnes.
20 He shall give blessings truly to Jacob, and mercy to Abraam, as you sware to our fathers, according to the former days.
Thou schalt yyue treuthe to Jacob, merci to Abraham, whiche thou sworist to oure fadris fro elde daies.
