Micah 7
1 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 trust any neighbor; put no confidence in any friend. Be careful about what you say even to the woman who lies in your arms.
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 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.
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 as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation; 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 A day to build your walls will come; on that day the boundaries will be extended very far.
A day for building your walls! in that day will your limits be stretched far and wide.
12 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.
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 But the land will be desolate because of the people who are living there, because of the fruit of their actions.
But the land will become a waste because of its people, as the fruit of their works.
14 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.
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 when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.
As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, let us see things of wonder.
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands on their mouths; 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 truth to Jacob and covenant faithfulness to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors in 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.
