Micah 7:14-20

Micah talks to God

14 Rule us and lead us, Lord.

You are like a man who leads his sheep.

He uses a strong stick to lead them.

We are your own special people.

We are like a group of sheep that lives by itself in a forest.

There is good grass all round them.

Let your sheep eat grass in Bashan and Gilead,

as they did a long time ago.

15 Lord, you did great things long ago,

when you brought us out of the land of Egypt.

Do great things like that again.

16 The people in other countries will see what you do.

They will understand that they are not really powerful.

So then they will be ashamed.

They will be like deaf people and dumb people.

17 They will be like snakes that move along the ground.

They will be afraid and they will eat dust like snakes.

They will come carefully out of their safe places,

because they are afraid of you, the Lord our God.

18 No other god is like you.

You chose us to be your people.

And you decide not to remember what we have done wrong.

Not many of your people remain and we have done bad things.

But you choose to forget those bad things.

You will not always be angry,

because you want very much to be kind.

19 You like to be kind because you love us.

You will remove everything that we have done wrong.

You will crush those bad things.

You will throw all of them into the deep sea.

20 You will continue to be kind to us,

because we are Jacob's and Abraham's people.

That is what you promised to our grandfathers a long time ago.