The prophet laments

¹I’m doomed!

I’ve become like one who,

²Faithful ones have perished from the land;

All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;

³Their hands are skilled at doing evil.

Official and judge alike ask for a bribe;

⁴The good among them are like a briar;

⁵Don’t rely on a friend;

⁶Son disrespects father;

⁷But me! I will keep watch for the LORD ;

Zion speaks

⁸Do not rejoice over me, my enemy,[#7.8 (feminine singular)]

⁹I must bear the raging of the LORD ,

for I have sinned against him,

He will bring me out into the light;

¹⁰Then my enemy will see;

My eyes will see her ruin;

Micah responds to Zion

¹¹A day for the building of your walls!

¹³And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,

Micah intercedes for the people

¹⁴Shepherd your people with your staff,

Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as a long time ago.

God agrees

¹⁵As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

The prophet continues

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed of all their strength;

¹⁷They will lick dust like the snake,

They will come trembling from their strongholds to the LORD our God;

¹⁸Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity,

He doesn’t hold on to his anger forever;

¹⁹He will once again have compassion on us;

You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will provide faithfulness to Jacob, faithful love to Abraham,