Micah 7

Sorrow for Israel’s Sins

7Woe is me!

For I am like those who gather summer fruits,

Like those who ^aglean vintage grapes;

There is no cluster to eat

Of the first-ripe fruit which ^bmy soul desires.

²The ^cfaithful ¹man has perished from the earth,

And there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood;

^dEvery man hunts his brother with a net.

³That they may successfully do evil with both hands—

The prince asks for gifts,

The judge seeks a ^ebribe,

And the great man utters his evil desire;

So they scheme together.

⁴The best of them is ^flike a brier;

The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;

The day of your watchman and your punishment comes;

Now shall be their perplexity.

^5gDo not trust in a friend;

Do not put your confidence in a companion;

Guard the doors of your mouth

From her who lies in your ^hbosom.

⁶For ⁱson dishonors father,

Daughter rises against her mother,

Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

⁷Therefore I will look to the Lord;

I will ^jwait for the God of my salvation;

My God will hear me.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

^8kDo not rejoice over me, my enemy;

^lWhen I fall, I will arise;

When I sit in darkness,

The Lord will be a light to me.

^9mI will bear the indignation of the Lord,

Because I have sinned against Him,

Until He pleads my ⁿcase

And executes justice for me.

He will bring me forth to the light;

I will see His righteousness.

¹⁰Then she who is my enemy will see,

And ^oshame will cover her who said to me,

^p“Where is the Lord your God?”

My eyes will see her;

Now she will be trampled down

Like mud in the streets.

¹¹In the day when your ^qwalls are to be built,

In that day ²the decree shall go far and wide.

¹²In that day ^rthey ³shall come to you

From Assyria and the ⁴fortified cities,

From the ⁵fortress to ⁶the River,

From sea to sea,

And mountain to mountain.

¹³Yet the land shall be desolate

Because of those who dwell in it,

And ^sfor the fruit of their deeds.

God Will Forgive Israel

¹⁴Shepherd Your people with Your staff,

The flock of Your heritage,

Who dwell ⁷solitarily in a ^twoodland,

In the midst of Carmel;

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,

As in days of old.

¹⁵“As ^uin the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

I will show ⁸them ^vwonders.”

¹⁶The nations ^wshall see and be ashamed of all their might;

^xThey shall put their hand over their mouth;

Their ears shall be deaf.

¹⁷They shall lick the ^ydust like a serpent;

^zThey shall crawl from their holes like ⁹snakes of the earth.

^aThey shall be afraid of the Lord our God,

And shall fear because of You.

^18bWho is a God like You,

^cPardoning iniquity

And passing over the transgression of ^dthe remnant of His heritage?

^eHe does not retain His anger forever,

Because He delights in ^fmercy. ¹

¹⁹He will again have compassion on us,

And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all ²our sins

Into the depths of the sea.

^20gYou will give truth to Jacob

And ³mercy to Abraham,

^hWhich You have sworn to our fathers

From days of old.