Micah 7

1 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

8 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.

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 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;

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 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.

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 A day for building your walls! in that day will your limits be stretched far and wide.

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

12 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.

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 But the land will become a waste because of its people, as the fruit of their works.

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

14 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.

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 As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, let us see things of wonder.

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

16 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.

Nations see, and they are ashamed of all their might, They lay a hand on the mouth, their ears are deaf.

17 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.

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, 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.

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 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.

He turns back, He pities us, He subdues our iniquities, And You cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

20 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.

You give truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham, That You have sworn to our fathers, from the days of antiquity!