Chorlton Evangelical Church, Manchester

Micah 7:1–10 (Listen)

7:1   Woe is me! For I have become
    as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
    as when the grapes have been gleaned:
  there is no cluster to eat,
    no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2   The godly has perished from the earth,
    and there is no one upright among mankind;
  they all lie in wait for blood,
    and each hunts the other with a net.
3   Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
    the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
  and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
    thus they weave it together.
4   The best of them is like a brier,
    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
  The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
    now their confusion is at hand.
5   Put no trust in a neighbor;
    have no confidence in a friend;
  guard the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your arms;
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;
    a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
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.
8   Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
    when I fall, I shall rise;
  when I sit in darkness,
    the LORD will be a light to me.
9   I will bear the indignation of the LORD
    because I have sinned against him,
  until he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
  He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
10   Then my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who said to me,
    “Where is the LORD your God?”
  My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    like the mire of the streets.

(ESV)