Micah 7:1-20 NET
[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. [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. [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. [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. [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! [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] But I will keep watching for the LORD; I will wait for the God who delivers me. My God will listen to me. [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. [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. [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. [11] It will be a day for rebuilding your walls; in that day your boundary will be extended. [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. [13] The earth will become desolate because of what its inhabitants have done. [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. [15] "As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt, I will show you miraculous deeds." [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. [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. [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? [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? [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.
