Micah 7

Modern

Literal

Israel’s Great Misery

¹Woe is me!

For I am like one gathering summer fruit

at the gleaning of the vineyard;

there is no cluster to eat,

no early fig that I crave.

¹Woe to me, for I have become like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig my soul desires.

²The godly man has perished from the earth;

there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood;

they hunt one another with a net.

²The godly one has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind. They all lie in wait for blood, each man against his brother, they hunt with a net.

³Both hands are skilled at evil;

the prince and the judge demand a bribe.

When the powerful utters his evil desire,

they all conspire together.

³Upon the evil are both hands to do it well; the prince is asking—and the judge—for a bribe, and the great one is speaking the desire of his soul, and they wrap it up.

⁴The best of them is like a brier;

the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.

The day for your watchmen has come,

the day of your visitation.^a

Now is the time of their confusion.

⁴Their best one of them is like a brier, the upright one, a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen—your visitation—has come. Now is their confusion!

⁵Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust in a companion.

Seal the doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your arms.^a

⁵Do not trust in a friend; do not put your confidence in a companion; from her who lies down in your bosom guard the doors of your mouth.

⁶For a son dishonors his father,

a daughter rises against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

A man’s enemies are the members

of his own household.^a

⁶For a son dishonors a father, a daughter rises against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—the enemies of a man are the men of his own house!

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

⁷But as for me, I will look to the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

⁷And I, for YHWH I will watch, I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.

⁸Do not gloat over me, my enemy!

Though I have fallen, I will arise;

though I sit in darkness,

the LORD will be my light.

⁸Do not rejoice, O my enemy, over me when I fall; I will arise; when I sit in the darkness, YHWH is be a light for me.

⁹Because I have sinned against Him,

I must endure the rage of the LORD,

until He argues my case

and executes justice for me.

He will bring me into the light;

I will see His righteousness.

⁹The indignation of YHWH I will bear, because I have sinned against Him, until when He will fight my fight, and execute justice by me; He will bring me forth to the light, and I will look on His righteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see

and will be covered with shame—

she who said to me,

“Where is the LORD your God?”

My eyes will see her;

at that time she will be trampled

like mud in the streets.

¹⁰And she who is my enemy will see, and she will cover her shame—she who said to me, “Where is YHWH your God?” My eyes will look on her; now she will be for trampling like mud in the streets.

¹¹The day for rebuilding your walls will come—

the day for extending your boundary.

¹¹A day is for building your walls, a day that the limit is removed.

¹²On that day they will come to you

from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

even from Egypt to the Euphrates,^a

from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹²And that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹³Then the earth will become desolate

because of its inhabitants,

as the fruit of their deeds.

¹³And the earth will be as a desolation over those dwelling on it for the fruit of their deeds.

God’s Compassion on Israel

¹⁴Shepherd with Your staff Your people,

the flock of Your inheritance.

They live alone in a woodland,

surrounded by pastures.^a

Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,

as in the days of old.

¹⁴Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage dwelling alone in a woodland in the midst of Carmel; let them find pasture in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

¹⁵As in the days when you came out of Egypt,

I will show My wonders.

¹⁵As in the days of your coming out from the land of Egypt, I will make them see wonders.

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed,

deprived of all their might.

They will put their hands over their mouths,

and their ears will become deaf.

¹⁶Nations will see, and they will be ashamed of all their might; they will put the hand over the mouth; their ears will become deaf.

¹⁷They will lick the dust like a snake,

like reptiles slithering on the ground.

They will come trembling from their strongholds

in the presence of the LORD our God;

they will tremble in fear of You.

¹⁷They will lick the dust like a snake, like the crawling things of the earth; they will come trembling from their enclosures to YHWH our God they will tremble, and they will be afraid of You.

¹⁸Who is a God like You,

who pardons iniquity

and passes over the transgression

of the remnant of His inheritance—

who does not retain His anger forever,

because He delights in loving devotion?^a

¹⁸Who is a God like You, lifting away iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion.

¹⁹He will again have compassion on us;

He will vanquish our iniquities.

You will cast out all our sins

into the depths of the sea.

¹⁹He will turn back, He will have compassion on us, He will subdue our iniquities. And You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.

²⁰You will show faithfulness to Jacob

and loving devotion to Abraham,

as You swore to our fathers

from the days of old.

²⁰You will give forth faithfulness to Jacob, loving devotion to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.