MICAH 7 [†] Woe is me! For I have become

 u as when the summer fruit has been gathered,

as when the grapes have been gleaned:

there is no cluster to eat,

no  v first-ripe fig that my soul desires.

2  w The godly has perished from the earth,

and  x there is no one upright among mankind;

 y they all lie in wait for blood,

and  z each hunts the other with a net.

3[†]  a Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;

 b the prince and  c the judge ask for a bribe,

and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;

thus they weave it together.

4[†] The best of them is  d like a brier,

the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of  e your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;

 f now their confusion is at hand.

5[†]  g Put no trust in a neighbor;

have no confidence in a friend;

guard  h the doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your arms; [1]

6[^] for  i the son treats the father with contempt,

the daughter rises up against her mother,

the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

 j a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

7[†] But as for me, I will look to the LORD;

 k I will wait for the God of my salvation;

my God will hear me.

8[†]  l Rejoice not over me, O  m my enemy;

 n when I fall, I shall rise;

 o when I sit in darkness,

the LORD will be a light to me.

9[†]  p I will bear the indignation of the LORD

because I have sinned against him,

until  q he pleads my cause

and executes judgment for me.

 r He will bring me out to the light;

I shall look upon his vindication.

10[†] Then  s my enemy will see,

and shame will cover her who  t said to me,

“Where is the LORD your God?”

 u My eyes will look upon her;

now she will be trampled down

 v like the mire of the streets.

11[†]  w A day for the building of your walls!

In that day the boundary shall be far extended.

12 In that day they [2] will come to you,

 y from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

and from Egypt to  z the River,

 a from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

13[†] But  b the earth will be desolate

because of its inhabitants,

for the fruit of their deeds.

14[†]  c Shepherd your people  d with your staff,

the flock of your inheritance,

who dwell alone in a forest

 e in the midst of  f a garden land; [3]

let them graze in Bashan and Gilead

as in the days of old.

15[†]  g As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

I will show them [4] marvelous things.

16[†]  h The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;

 i they shall lay their hands on their mouths;

their ears shall be deaf;

17  j they shall lick the dust like a serpent,

like the crawling things of the earth;

 k they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;

 l they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God,

and they shall be in fear of you.

18[^][†]  m Who is a God like you,  n pardoning iniquity

and passing over transgression

 n for the remnant of his inheritance?

 o He does not retain his anger forever,

because he delights in steadfast love.

19[†] He will  p again have compassion on us;

 q he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

 r You will cast all our [5] sins

into the depths of the sea.

20[†]  s You will show faithfulness to Jacob

and steadfast love to Abraham,

 t as you have sworn to our fathers

from the days of old.