CHAPTER 7
1Alas for me,
as I have become like the leavings of summer fruit,
like the last gleanings of the vintage—
there is no cluster for eating,
no ripe figs that my palate has longed for.
2The faithful has vanished from the land,
and the upright among men is gone.
They all lie in wait to shed blood,
each man hunts his brother with a net.
3For evil their hands are skilled.
The noble and the judge ask payment.
The great one speaks the disaster he wants,
4Their good is like a thornbush,
The day those who look for You, of Your reckoning, has come.
Now shall their confounding take place.
5Do not trust in a friend,
nor place confidence in a leader.
From her who lies in your lap
6For the son reviles the father,
the daughter rises against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies are the people of his household.
7But I look for You,
I await the God of my rescue
May the LORD hear me.
8Rejoice not, O my enemy.
Though I fall, I will arise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the LORD is a light for me.
9The LORD’s wrath I will bear
for I have offended against Him,
till He takes up my case
and renders Me justice.
He shall bring me out to the light,
I will see His vindication.
10And my enemy shall see
and shame shall cover her,
who has said to me,
“Where is the LORD your God?”
now she shall be trampled
like the mud of the streets.
11The day for rebuilding your walls,
that day the borders shall widen,
12that day—and to you shall it come,
from Assyria and the towns of Egypt
and from Egypt to the Euphrates
and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13And the earth shall become a desolation
with its dwellers, as the fruit of their acts.
14Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
the flock of Your estate,
that dwells secure in the forest
in the midst of the farmland.
They shall feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in days of yore.
15As the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
16Nations shall see and be shamed
of all their valor.
They shall put hand over mouth,
17They shall lick the dust like a snake,
like the crawlers on the ground.
They shall be shaken out from their enclosures
to the LORD our God.
They shall dread and fear You.
18Who is a God like You dismissing crime
and forgiving trespass for the remnant of His estate?
He does not cling forever to His wrath,
for He desires kindness.
19Again He shall have mercy on us.
And You shall fling into the depths of the sea
20Grant truth to Jacob,
kindness to Abraham,
as You swore to our fathers
in ancient days.