Micah, chapter 7
Israel Is Corrupt
feel so empty inside—
like someone starving for grapes or figs,
after the vines and trees have all been picked clean.
2No one is loyal to God; no one does right.
Everyone is brutal and eager to deceive everyone else.
3 People cooperate to commit crime.
Judges and leaders demand bribes,
and rulers cheat in court.
4The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch.
Your doom has come!
Lookouts sound the warning, and everyone panics.
5Don't trust anyone, not even your best friend,
and be careful what you say to the one you love.
6 Sons refuse to respect their own fathers,
daughters rebel against their own mothers,
and daughters-in-law despise their mothers-in-law.
Your family is now your enemy.
7But I trust the Lord God to save me,
and I will wait for him to answer my prayer.
The Lord Forgives Those Who Confess Their Sins
The individual poems in the final part of Micah combine to show hope in the future. First, the people confess their sins and declare their trust in the Lord (7.8-10). This is followed by the promise of a restored Judah (7.11-13). Micah prays that the nations who had made fun of Judah (7.10) will come to fear Judah's Lord. Finally, the people of Judah praise God for forgiving them and for keeping the promises made to their ancestors (7.18-20).
The Nation Turns to God
8My enemies, don't be glad because of my troubles!
I may have fallen, but I will get up;
I may be sitting in the dark, but the Lord is my light.
9I have sinned against the Lord.
And so I must endure his anger,
until he comes to my defense.
But I know that I will see him making things right for me
and leading me to the light.
10You, my enemies, said, “The Lord God is helpless.”
Now each of you will be disgraced and put to shame.
I will see you trampled like mud in the street.
A Bright Future
11Towns of Judah, the day is coming
when your walls will be rebuilt,
and your boundaries enlarged.
12People will flock to you from Assyria and Egypt,
from Babylonia and everywhere else.
13Those nations will suffer disaster because of what they did.
Micah's Prayer and the Lord's Answer
14Lead your people, Lord! Come and be our shepherd.
Grasslands surround us, but we live in a forest.
So lead us to Bashan and Gilead, and let us find pasture
as we did long ago.
15I, the Lord, will work miracles just as I did
when I led you out of Egypt.
16Nations will see this and be ashamed
because of their helpless armies.
They will be in shock, unable to speak or hear,
17because of their fear of me, your Lord and God.
Then they will come trembling,
crawling out of their fortresses
like insects or snakes, lapping up the dust.
No One Is Like God
18Our God, no one is like you.
We are all that is left of your chosen people,
and you freely forgive our sin and guilt.
You don't stay angry forever; you're glad to have pity
19and pleased to be merciful.
You will trample on our sins
and throw them in the sea.
20You will keep your word
and be faithful to Jacob and to Abraham,
as you promised our ancestors many years ago.