Micah 7:1-20
7 Too bad for me,+ for I have become like the gatherings of summer fruit, like the gleaning of a grape gathering!+ There is no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, that my soul would desire!+
2 The loyal one* has perished from the earth,* and among mankind* there is no upright one.+ All of them, for bloodshed they lie in wait.+ They hunt, everyone his own brother, with a dragnet.+
3 [Their] hands are upon what is bad, to do [it] well;+ the prince is asking [for something], and the one who is judging [does so] for the reward,+ and the great one is speaking forth the craving of his soul, his very own;+ and they interweave it.
4 Their best one is like a brier, [their] most upright one is worse than a thorn hedge.+ The day of your watchmen, [of] your being given attention, must come.+ Now will occur the confounding of them.+
5 Do not put YOUR faith in a companion. Do not put YOUR trust in a confidential friend.+ From her who is lying in your bosom guard the openings of your mouth.+
6 For a son is despising a father; a daughter is rising up against her mother;+ a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;+ a man’s enemies are the men* of his household.+
7 But as for me, it is for Jehovah that I shall keep on the lookout.+ I will show a waiting attitude for the God of my salvation.+ My God will hear me.+
8 Do not rejoice over me, O you woman enemy of mine.+ Although I have fallen, I shall certainly rise up;+ although I dwell in the darkness,+ Jehovah will be a light to me.+
9 The raging of Jehovah I shall bear—for I have sinned against him+—until he conducts my legal case and actually executes justice for me.+ He will bring me forth to the light; I shall look upon his righteousness.+
10 And my enemy will see, and shame will cover her,+ who was saying to me: “Where is he, Jehovah your God?”+ My own eyes will look upon her.+ Now she will become a place of trampling, like the mire of streets.+
11 The day for building your* stone walls, at that day [the] decree* will be far away.+
12 At that day even all the way to you they* will come from As·syrʹi·a and the cities of Egypt,* and from Egypt even all the way to [the] River;+ and from sea to sea, and [from] mountain to the mountain.+
13 And the land must become a desolate waste on account of its inhabitants, because of the fruit of their dealings.+
14 Shepherd your* people with your staff,+ the flock of your inheritance, the one who was residing alone in a forest—in the midst of an orchard.+ Let them feed on Baʹshan and Gilʹe·ad+ as in the days of a long time ago.+
15 “As in the days of your coming forth from the land of Egypt I shall show him wonderful things.+
16 Nations will see and become ashamed of all their mightiness.+ They will put [their] hand upon [their] mouth;+ their very ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick up dust like the serpents;+ like reptiles of [the] earth they will come in agitation out of their bulwarks.+ To Jehovah our God* they will come quivering, and they will be afraid of you.”+
18 Who is a God* like you,+ one pardoning error and passing over transgression+ of the remnant of his inheritance?+ He will certainly not hold onto his anger forever, for he is delighting in loving-kindness.*+
19 He will again show us mercy;+ he will subject our errors.+ And you will throw into the depths of [the] sea all their* sins.+
20 You will give [the] trueness [given] to Jacob, [the] loving-kindness [given] to Abraham, which you swore to our forefathers from the days of long ago.+
Footnotes
^ Or, “The one of loving-kindness.” Heb., cha·sidhʹ.
^ Or, “the land.” Heb., ha·ʼaʹrets.
^ Or, “among earthling men.” Heb., ba·ʼa·dhamʹ.
^ “Men of.” Heb., ʼan·shehʹ, pl. of ʼish, which is earlier rendered “a man’s” in this sentence.
^ “Your,” fem. sing.
^ Or, “prescribed limit.”
^ “They,” LXX; MSyVg, “he,” or “one.”
^ “Egypt.” Heb., Ma·tsohrʹ.
^ “Your,” masc. sing.
^ “Our God.” Heb., ʼElo·hehʹnu.
^ “God.” Heb., ʼEl; Gr., The·osʹ; Lat., Deʹus.
^ Or, “loyal love.” Heb., cheʹsedh.
^ “Their,” M; LXXSyVg, “our”; T, “Israel’s.”
