Micah 7

Wait for the God of Salvation

7Woe is me! For I have become

^uas when the summer fruit has been gathered,

as when the grapes have been gleaned:

there is no cluster to eat,

no ^vfirst-ripe fig that my soul desires.

^2wThe godly has perished from the earth,

and ^xthere is no one upright among mankind;

^ythey all lie in wait for blood,

and ^zeach hunts the other with a net.

^3aTheir hands are on what is evil, to do it well;

^bthe prince and ^cthe judge ask for a bribe,

and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;

thus they weave it together.

⁴The best of them is ^dlike a brier,

the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of ^eyour watchmen, of your punishment, has come;

^fnow their confusion is at hand.

^5gPut no trust in a neighbor;

have no confidence in a friend;

guard ^hthe doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your arms;¹

⁶for ⁱthe son treats the father with contempt,

the daughter rises up against her mother,

the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

^ja man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

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

^kI will wait for the God of my salvation;

my God will hear me.

^8lRejoice not over me, O ^mmy enemy;

ⁿwhen I fall, I shall rise;

^owhen I sit in darkness,

the Lord will be a light to me.

^9pI will bear the indignation of the Lord

because I have sinned against him,

until ^qhe pleads my cause

and executes judgment for me.

^rHe will bring me out to the light;

I shall look upon his vindication.

¹⁰Then ^smy enemy will see,

and shame will cover her who ^tsaid to me,

“Where is the Lord your God?”

^uMy eyes will look upon her;

now she will be trampled down

^vlike the mire of the streets.

^11wA day for the building of your walls!

In that day the boundary shall be far extended.

¹²In that day they² will come to you,

^yfrom Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

and from Egypt to ^zthe River,³

^afrom sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

¹³But ^bthe earth will be desolate

because of its inhabitants,

for the fruit of their deeds.

^14cShepherd your people ^dwith your staff,

the flock of your inheritance,

who dwell alone in a forest

^ein the midst of ^fa garden land;⁴

let them graze in Bashan and Gilead

as in the days of old.

^15gAs in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

I will show them⁵ marvelous things.

^16hThe nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;

ⁱthey shall lay their hands on their mouths;

their ears shall be deaf;

^17jthey shall lick the dust like a serpent,

like the crawling things of the earth;

^kthey shall come trembling out of their strongholds;

^lthey shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,

and they shall be in fear of you.

God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion

^18mWho is a God like you, ⁿpardoning iniquity

and passing over transgression

ⁿfor the remnant of his inheritance?

^oHe does not retain his anger forever,

because he delights in steadfast love.

¹⁹He will ^pagain have compassion on us;

^qhe will tread our iniquities underfoot.

^rYou will cast all our⁶ sins

into the depths of the sea.

^20sYou will show faithfulness to Jacob

and steadfast love to Abraham,

^tas you have sworn to our fathers

from the days of old.