מיכה 7
| אללי לי כי הייתי כאספי קיץ כעללת בציר אין אשכול לאכול בכורה אותה נפשי | 1 |
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.
| אבד חסיד מן הארץ וישר באדם אין כלם לדמים יארבו איש את אחיהו יצודו חרם | 2 |
[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.
| על הרע כפים להיטיב השר שאל והשפט בשלום והגדול דבר הות נפשו הוא--ויעבתוה | 3 |
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].
| טובם כחדק ישר ממסוכה יום מצפיך פקדתך באה עתה תהיה מבוכתם | 4 |
[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].
| אל תאמינו ברע אל תבטחו באלוף משכבת חיקך שמר פתחי פיך | 5 |
[So], do not trust anyone! Do not trust [even] a friend; [even] be careful what you say to your wife whom you love!
| כי בן מנבל אב בת קמה באמה כלה בחמתה איבי איש אנשי ביתו | 6 |
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.
| ואני ביהוה אצפה אוחילה לאלהי ישעי ישמעני אלהי | 7 |
As for me, I wait for Yahweh [to help me]. I confidently expect that God, my Savior, will answer me [when I pray].
| אל תשמחי איבתי לי כי נפלתי קמתי כי אשב בחשך יהוה אור לי | 8 |
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.
| זעף יהוה אשא כי חטאתי לו עד אשר יריב ריבי ועשה משפטי--יוציאני לאור אראה בצדקתו | 9 |
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.
| ותרא איבתי ותכסה בושה--האמרה אלי איו יהוה אלהיך עיני תראינה בה עתה תהיה למרמס כטיט חוצות | 10 |
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.
| יום לבנות גדריך יום ההוא ירחק חק | 11 |
[You people of Israel, ] at that time your cities will be rebuilt, and your territory will become larger.
| יום הוא ועדיך יבוא למני אשור וערי מצור ולמני מצור ועד נהר וים מים והר ההר | 12 |
[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.
| והיתה הארץ לשממה על ישביה מפרי מעלליהם | 13 |
But [the other countries on] the earth will become desolate because of the [evil] things that their people have done.
| רעה עמך בשבטך צאן נחלתך--שכני לבדד יער בתוך כרמל ירעו בשן וגלעד כימי עולם | 14 |
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.
| כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים אראנו נפלאות | 15 |
[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.”
| יראו גוים ויבשו מכל גבורתם ישימו יד על פה אזניהם תחרשנה | 16 |
[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].
| ילחכו עפר כנחש--כזחלי ארץ ירגזו ממסגרתיהם אל יהוה אלהינו יפחדו ויראו ממך | 17 |
[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.
| מי אל כמוך נשא עון ועבר על פשע לשארית נחלתו לא החזיק לעד אפו כי חפץ חסד הוא | 18 |
[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].
| ישוב ירחמנו יכבש עונתינו ותשליך במצלות ים כל חטאותם | 19 |
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.
| תתן אמת ליעקב חסד לאברהם אשר נשבעת לאבתינו מימי קדם | 20 |
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.
