Micah Chapter 7
Micah Laments Judah’s Sin
7:1 Woe is me! For I am like those gathering fruit and those harvesting grapes, when there is no grape cluster to eat and no fresh figs that my stomach craves. 7:2 Faithful men have disappeared from the land; there are no godly men left. They all wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt their own brother with a net. 7:3 They are experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men announce what they wish, and then they plan it out. 7:4 The best of them is like a thorn; their godly are like a thorn bush. Woe to your watchmen; your appointed punishment is on the way. The time of their confusion is now. 7:5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust a companion! Even with the one who lies in your arms, do not share secrets! 7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are his own family.
7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord; I will wait for the God who delivers me. My God will listen to me. Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated 7:8 My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. 7:9 I must endure the Lord’s fury, for I have sinned against him. But then he will defend my cause and accomplish justice on my behalf. He will lead me out into the light; I will witness his deliverance.
7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame. They say to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” I will gloat over them; then they will be trampled down like mud in the streets. 7:11 It will be a day for rebuilding your walls; in that day your boundary will be extended.
A Closing Prayer 7:12
In that day people will come to you from Assyria as far as Egypt, from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, from the seacoasts and the mountains. 7:13 The earth will become desolate because of what its inhabitants have done. 7:14 Shepherd your people with your rod, the flock that belongs to you, the one that lives alone in a thicket, in the midst of a pastureland. Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead, as they did in the old days. 7:15 “As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt, I will show you miraculous deeds.” 7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by all their strength; they will put their hands over their mouths and act as if they were deaf. 7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like serpents crawling on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds to the Lord our God; they will be terrified of you.
7:18 Who is a God like you? Who forgives sin and pardons the rebellion of those who remain among his people? Who does not stay angry forever, but delights in showing loyal love? 7:19 Who will once again have mercy on us? Who will conquer our evil deeds? Who will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea? 7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob and extend your loyal love to Abraham, which you promised on oath to our ancestors in ancient times.
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