Chapter 7
More than One Righteous Person among the People
1 How great is my misery!
I have become like one who,
when the summer fruit has been gathered
and the vines have been gleaned,
finds not a single cluster of grapes to eat,
nor any of those early figs for which I long.
2 The faithful have vanished from the land;
there is no honest person to be found.
They all lie in wait to shed blood;
each one hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are skilled in performing evil deeds;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge asks for a bribe,
the powerful man follows his own desires.
4 The best of them is like a briar,
the most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day of their punishment now approaches;
now they will be seized by confusion.
5 Put no trust in a friend:
have no confidence in a loved one.
Guard the portals of your mouth
against her who lies in your embrace.
6 For a son maligns his father,
a daughter rebels against her mother,
a daughter-in-law rises up against her mother-in-law;
your enemies are to be found in your own household.
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord.
I place my hope in God my savior;
my God will hear me.
Poems of Hope[a]
I Shall Rise Up
8 Do not gloat over me, O my enemy.
Although I have fallen, I will arise.
Although I sit in darkness,
the Lord is my light.
9 I must endure the anger of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he takes up my cause
and forgives my wrongs,
until he brings me into the light
and I will behold his saving justice.
10 When my enemies see this,
they will be filled with shame,
those who said to me,
“Where is the Lord, your God?”
My eyes will see their downfall
as they are trampled underfoot
like mud in the streets.
11 That will be the day for rebuilding your walls,
the day for extending your boundaries.
12 On that day a people will come to you,
all the way from Assyria and from Egypt,
from Tyre to the Euphrates,
from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will be a wasteland
because of its inhabitants,
as a suitable punishment for their deeds.[b]
Make Us See Wonders
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock that is your heritage,
that lives by itself in a forest
with meadows surrounding it.
Let them graze in Bashan[c] and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
15 Show us wondrous signs
as in the days when you came out
from the land of Egypt.
16 The nations will see and be confounded
despite all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths;
their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like snakes,
like reptiles that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling out of their strongholds
and turn in dread to behold the Lord, our God,
as they approach him in awe and terror.
The God Who Forgives
18 What god can compare with you,
the God who takes away guilt
and forgives the transgressions
of the remnant of your people?
You will not allow your anger to fester forever,
for your delight is in bestowing mercy.
19 You will again show us compassion
and wash away our guilt;
you will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and unswerving mercy to Abraham
as you swore to our ancestors
from the days of old.
Footnotes
- Micah 7:8 Because of their subjects and the events they recall, these canticles, which are liturgical in tone, seem not to date from Micah’s time; they are suited, rather, to the situation of the Jews who have returned from exile after the second half of the sixth century.
- Micah 7:13 The threat is due to the neighboring enemies of Israel and their behavior toward those who have returned from exile.
- Micah 7:14 Bashan and Gilead, beyond the Jordan, were regions of fertile pasture and forests.