Micah

7 Alas for me! for I am become As gatherings of summer fruit, As gleaning-grapes in harvest, There is no cluster to eat, The first ripe fruit my soul craved.

2 Perished is the man of lovingkindness out of the earth, And upright among men is there none,—They all for bloodshed lie in wait. Every man—for his brother do they hunt as for one devoted to destruction.

3 Of wickedness with both hands to make sure The ruler doth make demand—And the judge—for a recompense,—And as for the great man he is putting into words the desire of his soul So have they woven the net!

4 The best of them is as a sharp briar, And the most upright worse than a thorn hedge, The day of thy watchmen—of thy visitation hath come, Now shall be their confusion!

5 Do not trust in a friend, Do not put confidence in an associate,—From her that lieth in thy bosom keep thou the doors of thy mouth;

6 For the son treateth as foolish the father, And the daughter riseth up against her mother, The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,—The foes of a man are the men of his own house.

7 But I for Yahweh will watch, I will wait for the God of my salvation,—My God will hear me.

8 Do not rejoice, O mine enemy, against me, Though I fall I shall rise again! Though I sit in darkness Yahweh is a light to me.

9 The indignation of Yahweh will I bear, For I have sinned against him,—Until he take up my controversy Then will he do me justice, He will bring me forth to the light I shall behold his righteousness.

10 So shall she who had been mine enemy fear And shame shall cover her, Who used to say unto me—Where is Yahweh thy God? Mine own eyes shall look upon her, Now shall she become one to be trodden down like the mire of the lanes.

11 On the day for building thy walls—On that day far away shall be thy boundary:

12 The very day that against thee shall one come from Assyria and [from] the cities of Egypt; Yea from Egypt even unto the River, And from sea to sea And from mountain to mountain:

13 Though the land become a desolation Because of them that dwell therein,—By reason of the fruit of their doings.

14 Shepherd thou thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine inheritance, Dwell thou alone a jungle in the midst of a fruitful field,—Let them feed in Bashan and in Gilead As in the days of age-past times.

15 As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt Will I shew him wonders.

16 Nations shall see that they may turn pale at all their valour,—They shall lay hand on mouth, Their ears shall be silent:

17 They shall lick the dust like the serpent, Like the crawlers of the earth shall they come quaking out of their fastnesses,—Towards Yahweh our God Shall they pay adoration, And shall fear because of thee.

18 Who is a God like unto thee Taking away the iniquity—And passing over the transgression—Of the remnant of his inheritance? He hath not held fast perpetually his anger, For One who delighteth in lovingkindness is he!

19 He will again have compassion upon us, He will subdue our iniquities,—Thou wilt cast—into the depths of the sea—all their sins.

20 Thou wilt grant—The faithfulness to Jacob, The lovingkindness to Abraham,—Which thou didst swear to our fathers From the days of ancient time.