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.
I am very miserable/frustrated! I am like [SIM] someone who is hungry, [who searches for fruit to pick] after all the fruit had been picked and who finds no grapes or figs to eat.
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.
[All] the godly people have disappeared from this land; there is not one of them left. [The people who are left] are all murderers [MTY]; [it is as though] everyone is eager to kill his fellow countryman.
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.
They [all] use both hands to do what is evil. [Government] officials and judges [all] ask for bribes. Important people tell others what they want, and they plot/scheme together [about how to get it done].
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.
[Even] the best people are [as worthless] [SIM] as briers; the people [who are considered by others to be] [IRO] the most honest are worse than clumps of thornbushes. But, [Yahweh] will soon judge them; now is the time that he will punish people, a time when they will be [very] confused [because of being defeated].
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.
[So], do not trust anyone! Do not trust [even] a friend; [even] be careful what you say to your wife whom you love!
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.
Boys will despise their fathers, and girls will defy their mothers. Women will defy their mothers-in-law. Your enemies will be those who live in your own houses.
7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
As for me, I wait for Yahweh [to help me]. I confidently expect that God, my Savior, will answer me [when I pray].
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.
You who are our enemies, do not gloat/rejoice about [what has happened to] us, [because even] if we have experienced disasters, [those disasters will end and] we will be restored. [Even] if [it is as though] we are sitting in the darkness, Yahweh will be our light.
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.
We must be patient while Yahweh punishes us because we have sinned against him. But later, [it will be as though] he will go to court and defend us, and he will make sure that the judge makes a right decision about us. [It will be as though] he will bring us out into the light, and we will see it when he rescues us.
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.
Our enemies will [also] see that, and they will be disgraced because they [ridiculed us], saying “Why is [RHQ] Yahweh, that God of yours, [not helping you]?” But with our own eyes we will see them when they are defeated; we will see them trampled like [SIM] mud in the streets.
11 A day to build your walls will come; on that day the boundaries will be extended very far.
[You people of Israel, ] at that time your cities will be rebuilt, and your territory will become larger.
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.
[People from many countries will come to honor you]: people from Assyria and from [near] the [Euphrates] River [in the east] and from Egypt [in the south], from distant seas, and from many mountains.
13 But the land will be desolate because of the people who are living there, because of the fruit of their actions.
But [the other countries on] the earth will become desolate because of the [evil] things that their people have done.
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.
Yahweh, protect your people like [MET] [a shepherd protects his sheep] by using his walking stick; lead your people [MET] whom you have chosen to belong to you. [Even though some of them] live by themselves in a forest, give them the fertile pastureland in the Bashan and Gilead [regions] that they possessed long ago.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.
[Yahweh says/replies], “[Yes], I will perform miracles for you like the miracles that I performed when I rescued your [ancestors] from [being slaves in] Egypt.”
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.
[People from many] nations will see [what Yahweh does for you], and they will be ashamed because they do not have any power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears [because they will be very amazed because of what Yahweh does], [and they will not be able to say anything or hear anything].
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.
[Being very humiliated, ] they will crawl on the ground [MTY] like [SIM] snakes. They will come out of their homes trembling, and stand revering Yahweh our God. They will be very afraid of him, and will tremble in front of him.
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.
[Yahweh], there is no [RHQ] God like you; you forgive the sins [DOU] that were committed by the people who have survived, the people who belong to you. You do not remain angry forever; you are very happy [to show us] that you faithfully love [us].
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.
You will again act kindly/compassionately toward us. You will get rid of [the scroll on which you have written] the sins that we have committed [as though you were] trampling it under your feet or throwing it into the deep ocean.
20 You will give truth to Jacob and covenant faithfulness to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors in ancient days.
You will show that you faithfully [do what you promised for us] and faithfully love us, just like you solemnly promised long ago to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob that you would do.
