Micah 7:1

Micah had spoken to the people that ‘lie on their beds’. They ‘make their evil plans’ there (Micah 2:1). He had spoken about the awful things that would happen. Now these terrible things will soon happen. That upsets Micah. He starts to weep. He is very unhappy. Sad, strong feelings are in Micah’s heart. He feels strongly for the people. Micah says that God looks for good honest officials in Jerusalem. But he cannot find any good officials. (We read more about that in Micah 7:2-4.) It is like a person who is looking for fruit. But that person cannot find any good fruit.

Here Micah speaks God’s thoughts. He writes a story about God. In the story, God is like a poor person. He enters a *vineyard. It is just after the main time when people harvest fruit. God hopes to gather a little fruit to eat, after the main harvest. But he cannot find any fruit, although he could usually expect to find some. Usually there always remained a few grapes (fruit that people use to make wine). And there were also a few figs (sweet fruit). The farmer left them on the sides of the field. There was a law about that, in order to provide for poor people. It allowed them to gather the fruit. But the law did not allow farmers to go back to the field a second time. They should not remove the small groups of fruit that remained. They had to leave just a little for poor people (Leviticus 19:9-10).

v2 There are no loyal people on the Earth any longer. Nobody is honest. Every person is waiting to kill someone. It is as if each man hunts his brother with a net. v3 They do evil things with both hands. They are clever at it. The ruler demands gifts. Powerful people declare what they want, with absolute authority. So they make plans together. Judges accept money to cheat in court. Important leaders do not make fair decisions. They do whatever they want to do. v4 Even the best leader is cruel. The most honest leader is terrible. It would be better to walk into a hedge with *thorns than to meet those men. Your *prophets said that this day would come. Now it is here. Guards have warned people. Everyone is confused. The day when God visits you has come. It is the time when God punishes you.