Wait for the God of Salvation

Woe is me! For I have become
    (A)as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
    as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
    no (B)first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
(C)The godly has perished from the earth,
    and (D)there is no one upright among mankind;
(E)they all lie in wait for blood,
    and (F)each hunts the other with a net.
(G)Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
    (H)the prince and (I)the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
    thus they weave it together.
The best of them is (J)like a brier,
    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of (K)your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
    (L)now their confusion is at hand.
(M)Put no trust in a neighbor;
    have no confidence in a friend;
guard (N)the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your arms;[a]
for (O)the son treats the father with contempt,
    the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
    (P)a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    (Q)I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

(R)Rejoice not over me, O (S)my enemy;
    (T)when I fall, I shall rise;
(U)when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
(V)I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until (W)he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
(X)He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
10 Then (Y)my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who (Z)said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
(AA)My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    (AB)like the mire of the streets.

11 (AC)A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they[b] will come to you,
    (AD)from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to (AE)the River,[c]
    (AF)from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But (AG)the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.

14 (AH)Shepherd your people (AI)with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
    (AJ)in the midst of (AK)a garden land;[d]
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
    as in the days of old.
15 (AL)As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
    I will show them[e] marvelous things.
16 (AM)The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
(AN)they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
    their ears shall be deaf;
17 (AO)they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth;
(AP)they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
    (AQ)they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
    and they shall be in fear of you.

God's Steadfast Love and Compassion

18 (AR)Who is a God like you, (AS)pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    (AT)for the remnant of his inheritance?
(AU)He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will (AV)again have compassion on us;
    (AW)he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
(AX)You will cast all our[f] sins
    into the depths of the sea.
20 (AY)You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
(AZ)as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 7:5 Hebrew bosom
  2. Micah 7:12 Hebrew he
  3. Micah 7:12 That is, the Euphrates
  4. Micah 7:14 Hebrew of Carmel
  5. Micah 7:15 Hebrew him
  6. Micah 7:19 Hebrew their

Woe is me! For I am become like a gathering of kayitz (summer fruit), like a gleaning of the vintage; there is no grape cluster to eat, none of the early figs my nefesh desired.

The chasid has disappeared from ha’aretz; and there is none yashar (upright, straight) among men; they all lie in wait for dahm; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

That they may do evil with both hands skillfully, the sar and the shofet asketh for a bribe; and hagadol uttereth the evil of his nefesh (soul); so they weave it.

The best of them is like a brier; the yashar ([most] upright) is sharper than a thorn hedge; the yom of thy watchmen and thy pekuddah (visitation) cometh; now shall their confusion follow.

Trust ye not in a re’a, put ye not confidence in an alluf (confidant); keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy kheyk (bosom).

For the ben dishonoureth the av, the bat riseth up against her em, the kallah against her chamot; a man’s enemies are the men of his own bais.

Therefore I will look [in hope] for Hashem; I will wait for Elohei Yishi (the G-d of my Salvation); Elohai (my G-d) will hear me.

Don’t joyously gloat over me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in choshech, Hashem shall be ohr unto me.

I will bear the wrath of Hashem, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my case, and execute mishpat for me; He will bring me forth into the ohr, and I shall behold His tzedakah.

10 Then mine enemy shall see it, and bushah (shame) shall cover her which said unto me, Where is Hashem thy G-d? Mine eyes shall behold her; now shall she be trodden down like the mire of the streets.

11 In the yom that thy fences are to be built, in Yom HaHu (that Day) shall the chok (prescribed limit, boundary) be far away.

12 In that yom also it shall come into your possession from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, from yam to yam, and from har to har.

13 Notwithstanding ha’aretz shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

14 Tend as a shepherd Thy people with Thy staff, the tzon of Thine nachalah, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gil‘ad, as in days of old.

15 According to the days of thy coming out of Eretz Mitzrayim will I show unto it marvellous things.

16 The Goyim shall see and be ashamed at all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.

17 They shall lick the aphar (dust) like the nachash, like crawlers that crawl on eretz (ground) they will come trembling out of their dens; they shall be afraid of Hashem Eloheinu, and shall turn in fear because of Thee.

18 Mee El kamocha (Who is a G-d like unto Thee), removing avon, and passing over peysha of the She’erit of His Nechalah? Hashem retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in chesed.

19 He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue avonoteinu (our iniquities); and tashlich (thou wilt cast, throw) all their sins into the depths of the yam.

20 Thou wilt give emes to Ya’akov, and chesed to Avraham, as Thou hast sworn unto avoteinu from days of long ago.