A Broken Land, No One Faithful
7 1 How miserable I am! I am like someone who gathers summer fruit, like one who gleans the vineyard after harvest: there is no cluster to eat, no early fig I long for.
2 The faithful have vanished from the land, and there is no one upright among the people; they all lie in wait for blood, each hunting his brother with a net. 3 Their hands are skilled at evil: the official demands a bribe, the judge accepts a payoff, and the powerful dictate what they want — and so they all conspire together. 4 The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day your watchmen warned of, the day of your reckoning, has come; now their confusion is near. 5 Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a close friend; guard what you say even to the one who lies in your arms. 6 For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a person's enemies are the members of his own household. a a v6 Jesus quoted this verse when he warned that following him would divide even households (Matthew 10:35-36).
7 But as for me, I will watch for our Father; I will wait for the Father who saves me; my Father will hear me. 8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise; though I sit in darkness, our Father will be my light.
9 I will bear the indignation of our Father, because I have sinned against him, until he takes up my case and brings me justice. He will bring me out into the light, and I will see his vindication. 10 Then my enemy will see it and be covered with shame, she who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God? " My eyes will look on her; now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets.
11 The day for rebuilding your walls will come, the day your boundaries will be extended far and wide. 12 In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. b b v12 'The River' refers to the Euphrates, the great river of ancient Mesopotamia. 13 But the earth will become desolate because of those who live in it, as the fruit of their deeds.
Our Father's Compassion Endures Forever
14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who live alone in a forest in the midst of fertile pasture. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as they did long ago. c c v14 Bashan and Gilead were regions east of the Jordan famous for rich pastureland — a picture of our Father restoring his flock to abundance.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might; they will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will go deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a serpent, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds; they will turn to our Father in dread, and they will be afraid of you.
18 Who is like our Father, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellion of the remnant of his inheritance? He does not hold on to his anger forever, because his heart delights in covenant love. d d v18 The name Micah means "Who is like the LORD?" — and the prophet ends his book answering his own name: no one forgives like our Father. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob and show covenant love to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors long ago.