Micah 7:8-20

8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.

10 Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame— she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.

11 The day for rebuilding your walls will come— the day for extending your boundary.

12 On that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, ^[a] from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13 Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.

God’s Compassion on Israel

14 Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. ^[b] Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders.

16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.

17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.

18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance— who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? ^[c]

19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.

Micah 7:8-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 7

This chapter begins with a lamentation of the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, concerning the general depravity and corruption of the times in which he lived, Mic 7:1-6; then declares what he was determined to do for his relief in such circumstances, Mic 7:7; comforts himself and the church with a good hope and firm belief of its being otherwise and better with them, to the shame and confusion of their enemies that now rejoiced, though without just reason for it, Mic 7:8-10; with promises of deliverance, after a desolation of the land for some time, Mic 7:11-13; and with the answer returned to the prayers of the prophet, Mic 7:14,15; which would issue in the astonishment of the world, and their subjection to the church of God, Mic 7:16,17; and the chapter is concluded with admiration at the pardoning grace and mercy of God, and his faithfulness to his promises, Mic 7:18-20.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew the River
• [b]. Or in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel
• [c]. Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant.