The Prophet Acknowledges Injustice
Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat,
Nor an early fig, which [a]I crave.
2 The [b]godly person has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
3 As for evil, both hands do it well.
The leader asks for a bribe, also the judge,
And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul;
So they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a thorn bush,
The most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day [c]when you post your watchmen,
Your punishment is coming.
Then their confusion will occur.
5 Do not trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a close friend.
Guard [d]your lips
From her who lies [e]in your arms.
6 For son disavows father,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.
God Is the Source of Salvation and Light
7 But as for me, I will be on the watch for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, enemy of mine.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I live in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will look at His [f]righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look at her;
[g]At that time she will [h]be trampled down
Like mud of the streets.
11 It will be a day for building your walls.
On that day your boundary will be extended.
12 It will be a day when [i]they will come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates River,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will become a wasteland because of her inhabitants,
On account of the fruit of their deeds.
The flock of Your [j]possession
Which lives by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of [k]a fruitful field.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the days of old.
15 “As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt,
I will show [l]you miracles.”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick up dust like a snake,
Like [m]reptiles of the earth.
They will come trembling out of their [n]fortresses;
To the Lord our God they will come in trepidation,
And they will be afraid of You.
18 Who is a God like You, who pardons wrongdoing
And passes over a rebellious act of the remnant of His [o]possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.
19 He will again take pity on us;
He will trample on our wrongdoings.
Yes, You will cast all [p]their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give [q]truth to Jacob
And favor to Abraham,
Which You swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.
Footnotes
- Micah 7:1 Lit my soul desires
- Micah 7:2 Or faithful
- Micah 7:4 Lit of your
- Micah 7:5 Lit the openings of your mouth
- Micah 7:5 Lit on your chest
- Micah 7:9 I.e., right dealing
- Micah 7:10 Lit Now
- Micah 7:10 Lit become a trampled place
- Micah 7:12 Lit he
- Micah 7:14 Or inheritance
- Micah 7:14 Or Carmel
- Micah 7:15 Lit him
- Micah 7:17 Lit crawling things
- Micah 7:17 Or prisons
- Micah 7:18 Or inheritance
- Micah 7:19 Several ancient versions our
- Micah 7:20 Or faithfulness