Micah 7
Micah Laments Judah’s Sin
7:1 I am depressed!1
Indeed,2 it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,
and the grapes have been harvested.3
There is no grape cluster to eat,
no fresh figs that I crave so much.4
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared5 from the land;
there are no godly men left.6
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood;7
they hunt their own brother with a net.8
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil;9
government officials and judges take bribes,10
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.11
7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes.12
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way,13
and then you will experience confusion.14
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms!15
7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges16 her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own servants.17
7:7 But I will keep watching for the
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will hear my lament.18
Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated
7:8 My enemies,19 do not gloat20 over me!
Though I have fallen, I will get up.
Though I sit in darkness, the
7:9 I must endure22 the
for I have sinned against him.
But then23 he will defend my cause,24
and accomplish justice on my behalf.
He will lead me out into the light;
I will experience firsthand25 his deliverance.26
7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say27 to me, “Where is the
I will gloat over them.28
Then they will be trampled down29
like mud in the streets.
7:11 It will be a day for rebuilding your walls;
in that day your boundary will be extended.30
A Closing Prayer
7:12 In that day people31 will come to you32
from Assyria as far as33 Egypt,
from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River,34
from the seacoasts35 and the mountains.36
7:13 The earth will become desolate37
because of what its inhabitants have done.38
7:14 Shepherd your people with your shepherd’s rod,39
the flock that belongs to you,40
the one that lives alone in a thicket,
in the midst of a pastureland.41
Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead,42
as they did in the old days.43
7:15 “As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt,
I will show you44 miraculous deeds.”45
7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by46 all their strength,
they will put their hands over their mouths,
and act as if they were deaf.47
7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,
like serpents crawling on the ground.48
They will come trembling from their strongholds
to the
they will be terrified50 of you.51
7:18 There is no other God like you!52
You53 forgive sin
and pardon54 the rebellion
of those who remain among your people.55
You do not remain angry forever,56
but delight in showing loyal love.
7:19 You will once again57 have mercy on us;
you will conquer58 our evil deeds;
you will hurl our59 sins into the depths of the sea.60
7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham,61
which you promised on oath to our ancestors62
in ancient times.63