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Misery Turned to Hope

How miserable I am!
I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest
    who can find nothing to eat.
Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig
    can be found to satisfy my hunger.
The godly people have all disappeared;
    not one honest person is left on the earth.
They are all murderers,
    setting traps even for their own brothers.
Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
    Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
    and together they scheme to twist justice.
Even the best of them is like a brier;
    the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns.
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now.
    Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion.
Don’t trust anyone—
    not your best friend or even your wife!
For the son despises his father.
    The daughter defies her mother.
The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law.
    Your enemies are right in your own household!

As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
    I wait confidently for God to save me,
    and my God will certainly hear me.

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The Evil Behavior of the People

Poor me!
I feel like those who harvest summer fruit,
        or like those who pick grapes—
there are no clusters to eat
    or any fresh fruit that I want.
The faithful have died off,
    and there is not one upright human being in the land.
They all stalk one another[a] with lethal intent,
    a man will even hunt his own brother with a net.
And speaking of evil,
    they practice it eagerly—with both hands!
Both leader and judge demand a bribe,
    the famous confess their perverted desires,
        and they scheme together.
The best of them is like a thorn,
    and their most upright like a hedge of thorns.
The day announced by[b] your watchmen—
    and by your own calculations—approaches.
        Now it’s your time to be[c] confused!

Don’t trust your friends,
    don’t confide in a companion,
        watch what you say to your wife.[d]
The son disrespects his father,
    the daughter rebels against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
    and a man’s enemies are the people of his own house.[e]

Micah Looks to God

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God who will deliver me.
        My God will hear me.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 7:2 The Heb. lacks one another
  2. Micah 7:4 Lit. day of
  3. Micah 7:4 The Heb. lacks time to be
  4. Micah 7:5 Lit. her who lies near your bosom
  5. Micah 7:6 Cf. Matt 10:34-36