Micah 7:1-7
New English Translation
Micah Laments Judah’s Sin
7 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[a] craves.
2 Faithful men have disappeared[b] from the land;
there are no godly men left.[c]
They all wait in ambush to shed blood;[d]
they hunt their own brother with a net.
3 They are experts at doing evil;[e]
government officials and judges take bribes,[f]
prominent men announce what they wish,
and then they plan it out.[g]
4 The best of them is like a thorn;
their godly are like a thorn bush.[h]
Woe[i] to your watchmen;
your appointed punishment is on the way.[j]
The time of their confusion is now.[k]
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![l]
6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges[m] her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own family.[n]
7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will listen to me.
Footnotes
- Micah 7:1 tn Heb “appetite, soul.”
- Micah 7:2 tn Or “have perished.”
- Micah 7:2 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
- Micah 7:2 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
- Micah 7:3 tn Heb “their hands [reach] to evil to do [it] well,” or with slight emendation “their hands are skillful at doing evil.”
- Micah 7:3 tn Heb “the official asks—and the judge—for a bribe.”
- Micah 7:3 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.
- Micah 7:4 tc The MT reads יָשָׁר מִמְּסוּכָה (yashar mimmesukhah) “a godly [person] from a thorn bush.” Theoretically the preposition מִן (min, “from”) could be comparative (“more than”), but it would need an attributive adjective for this meaning. Most likely this is a case of wrong word division, where the מ (mem) is not מִן (min, “from”), but is actually a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, similar to the first clause (“their best”). The line would read יְשָׁרָם מְסוּכָה (yesharam mesukhah) “their upright person is a thorn bush.”
- Micah 7:4 tc The text is uncertain at several points. Where the MT reads יוֹם (yom, “day [of]”), the LXX reads οὐαὶ (ouai, “woe”) implying הוֹי (hoi, “woe”). The watchmen may be actual sentries or symbolic of true of false prophets. If reading with the MT, the “day of your watchmen,” might be the day they are on the lookout for, or the day they have announced. Reading “woe” either warns the sentries on the lookout or rebukes false prophets.
- Micah 7:4 tn Or “has come.”
- Micah 7:4 tn Heb “Now will be their confusion.”
- Micah 7:5 tn Heb “guard the doors of your mouth.”
- Micah 7:6 tn Heb “rises up against.”
- Micah 7:6 tn Heb “his house.” Household may include servants as well as family.
Micah 7:1-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Total Corruption of the People
7 Woe is me! For I have become like one who,
after the summer fruit has been gathered,
after the vintage has been gleaned,
finds no cluster to eat;
there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.(A)
2 The faithful have disappeared from the land,
and there is no one left who is upright;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and they hunt each other with nets.(B)
3 Their hands are skilled to do evil;
the official and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the powerful dictate what they desire;
thus they pervert justice.[a](C)
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of their[b] sentinels, of their[c] punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.(D)
5 Put no trust in a friend;
have no confidence in a loved one;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your embrace,
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
your enemies are members of your own household.(E)
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.(F)
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