Micah 6:8-7:10

English Standard Version

⁸He has told you, O man, what is good;
and ^(A)what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,^[a]
and to ^(B)walk humbly with your God?

Destruction of the Wicked

⁹The voice of the Lord cries to the city—
    and it is sound wisdom to fear ^(C)your name:
“Hear of ^(D)the rod and of him who appointed it!^[b]
¹⁰    Can I forget any longer the treasures^[c] of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
    and the scant measure that is accursed?
¹¹Shall I acquit the man ^(E)with wicked scales
    and with a bag of deceitful weights?
¹²Your^[d] rich men are ^(F)full of violence;
    your inhabitants ^(G)speak lies,
    and ^(H)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
¹³Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,
    ^(I)making you desolate because of your sins.
¹⁴^(J)You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
    and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve,
    and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
¹⁵^(K)You shall sow, but not reap;
    you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
    you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
¹⁶For you have kept the statutes of ^(L)Omri,^[e]
    and all the works of the house of ^(M)Ahab;
    and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you ^(N)a desolation, and your^[f] inhabitants ^(O)a hissing;
    so you shall bear ^(P)the scorn of my people.”

Wait for the God of Salvation

7 Woe is me! For I have become
    ^(Q)as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
    as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
    no ^(R)first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
²^(S)The godly has perished from the earth,
    and ^(T)there is no one upright among mankind;
^(U)they all lie in wait for blood,
    and ^(V)each hunts the other with a net.
³^(W)Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
    ^(X)the prince and ^(Y)the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
    thus they weave it together.
⁴The best of them is ^(Z)like a brier,
    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of ^(AA)your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
    ^(AB)now their confusion is at hand.
⁵^(AC)Put no trust in a neighbor;
    have no confidence in a friend;
guard ^(AD)the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your arms;^[g]
⁶for ^(AE)the son treats the father with contempt,
    the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
    ^(AF)a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
⁷But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    ^(AG)I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

⁸^(AH)Rejoice not over me, O ^(AI)my enemy;
    ^(AJ)when I fall, I shall rise;
^(AK)when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
⁹^(AL)I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until ^(AM)he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
^(AN)He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
¹⁰Then ^(AO)my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who ^(AP)said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
^(AQ)My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    ^(AR)like the mire of the streets.