Micah 7
Expanded Bible
The Evil That People Do
7 ·Poor [Woe to] me! I am like a hungry man,
and all the summer fruit has been picked—
there are no grapes left to eat,
none of the early figs I ·love [crave].
2 All of the faithful people ·are gone [L have perished from the land/earth];
there is not one ·good [upright] person left in this country.
Everyone ·is waiting to kill someone [L lies in wait for blood];
everyone ·is trying to trap someone else [L hunts his brother with a net].
3 With both hands they are doing evil.
Rulers ask for ·money [gifts],
and judges’ decisions are bought for a ·price [bribe].
·Rich [Influential; Great] people ·tell what they want [make demands],
and they get it.
4 Even the best of them is like a ·thornbush [brier];
the most ·honest [upright] of them is worse than a ·prickly plant [thorn hedge].
The day ·that your watchmen warned you about [L of your watchmen; C the coming exile predicted by the prophets] has come.
Now they will be confused [C without the guidance of the prophets].
5 Don’t ·believe [trust] your neighbor
or ·trust [put confidence in] a friend.
·Don’t say anything [L Guard the doors of your mouth],
even to ·your wife [L the one who lies on your bosom].
6 A son will not honor his father,
a daughter will ·turn against [defy; rise up against] her mother,
and a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law;
a person’s enemies will be ·members of his own family [or the servants of his household; L the men/people of his house; Matt. 10:36].
The Lord’s Kindness
7 Israel says, “I will look to the Lord for help.
I will wait for God ·to save me [my savior];
my God will hear me.
8 Enemy, don’t ·laugh at [gloat over] me.
I have fallen, but I will get up again.
I sit in ·the shadow of trouble now [L darkness],
but the Lord will be a light for me.
9 I sinned against the Lord,
so ·he was angry with me [L I will bear the wrath of the Lord],
but he will ·defend my case in court [plead my case].
He will ·bring about what is right [accomplish justice] for me.
Then he will bring me out into the light,
and I will see ·him set things right [his righteousness/justice/vindication].
10 Then my enemies will see this,
and they will be ·ashamed [L covered wth shame],
those who said to me,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
I will ·look down on [gloat over] them.
They will ·get walked on [be trampled down], like mud in the street.”
Israel Will Return
11 The ·time [L day] will come when your walls will be built again,
when your ·country will grow [borders will be extended].
12 ·At that time [L In that day] your people will come back to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the ·Euphrates River [L River],
and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will be ·ruined [desolate] ·for [or because of] the people who live in it
·because [L for the fruit] of their deeds.
A Prayer to God
14 So shepherd your people with your ·stick [shepherd’s staff];
tend the flock of ·people who belong to you [L your inheritance/possession].
That flock now lives alone in the forest
in the middle of ·a garden land [pasturelands; or Carmel].
Let them ·feed [graze] in Bashan and Gilead
as in days long ago.
15 “As in the days when I brought you out of Egypt,
I will show them ·miracles [wonders].”
16 When the nations see those miracles,
they will ·no longer brag [be ashamed/disappointed] about their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
·refusing to listen [and their ears will be deaf].
17 They will ·crawl in the [L lick] dust like a snake,
like ·insects crawling [or serpents; L crawling things] on the ground.
They will come trembling from their ·holes [or strongholds] to the Lord our God
and will turn in fear before you.
18 There is no God like you.
You forgive those who are guilty of sin;
you ·don’t look at the sins [pass over the transgressions] of ·your people
who are left alive [L the remnant of your inheritance].
You will not stay angry forever,
because you ·enjoy [delight in] ·being kind [mercy; lovingkindness].
19 You will have ·mercy [compassion] on us again;
you will conquer our sins.
You will ·throw away [hurl; cast] all our sins
into the ·deepest part [depths] of the sea.
20 You will be ·true [faithful] to ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob],
and you will ·be kind [show mercy/lovingkindness] to ·the people of Abraham [L Abraham]
as you promised to our ·ancestors [fathers] long ago.
彌迦書 7
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
以色列的敗壞
7 我真悲慘！
就像夏天的果子已被收盡，
葡萄已被摘淨，
找不到一串可吃的，
尋不見我心中渴望的初熟無花果。
2 虔敬人已從大地上滅絕，
世間再沒有正直人。
人人伺機殺人流血，
用網羅獵取自己的弟兄。
3 他們善於作惡。
領袖和審判官索要賄賂，
顯貴袒露心中的惡慾，朋比為奸。
4 他們當中最好的不過是蒺藜，
最正直的也不過是荊棘籬笆。
你們的守望者所說的日子，
就是你們受懲罰的日子已經來到。
你們必驚慌失措。
5 不要相信鄰居，
不要信賴朋友，
即使對你懷中的妻子也要守口如瓶。
6 因為兒子藐視父親，
女兒與母親作對，
媳婦與婆婆作對；
家人之間反目成仇。
7 至於我，
我要仰望耶和華，
等候拯救我的上帝；
我的上帝必垂聽我的祈求。
8 我的仇敵啊，
你們不要對我幸災樂禍！
我雖跌倒，但必再爬起來；
我雖坐在黑暗裡，
但耶和華必做我的光。
9 我得罪了耶和華，
所以要忍受祂的懲罰，
直到祂為我辯護，替我伸冤。
祂必領我進入光明，
我必親睹祂的公義。
10 從前嘲笑我說「你的上帝耶和華在哪裡」的仇敵看見這事，
都必滿面羞愧。
我必親眼看見他們遭到報應，
他們要像街上的泥土一樣被人踐踏。
11 以色列啊，
終有一日你會重建自己的城牆。
到那日，你必擴張自己的疆域。
12 那日，從亞述到埃及的各城，
從埃及到幼發拉底河，
從天涯到海角[a]，
人們都要到你這裡來。
13 然而，大地要因地上居民的罪惡而荒涼。
14 耶和華啊，
求你用你的杖牧放屬於你的羊群，
就是你的子民。
他們獨自居住在叢林中，
住在肥沃的田園間。
願他們像從前一樣在巴珊和基列吃草。
15 耶和華說：
「我要向他們顯出神蹟奇事，
就像他們離開埃及時一樣。」
16 列國看見這一切，
都必因自己勢力衰微而羞愧，
都必用手捂口，耳朵變聾。
17 他們要像蛇一樣舔土，
又如地上的爬蟲，
戰戰兢兢地走出營寨；
他們必畏懼我們的上帝耶和華，
他們必對你充滿恐懼。
18 有何神明像你一樣赦免罪惡，
饒恕你倖存子民的過犯？
你不會永遠發怒，
因為你樂於施恩。
19 你必再憐憫我們，
將我們的罪惡踐踏在腳下，
把我們的一切過犯拋進深海。
20 你必按古時給我們列祖的誓言，
以信實待雅各，
以慈愛待亞伯拉罕。
Footnotes
- 7·12 「從天涯到海角」希伯來文是「從海到海，從山到山」。
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