Глава 7

Micah 7:1. Oh, dear to me, as if I were gathering sludge at the harvest, and like a bunch of grapes in the embrace, I do not exist in the grapes, even if my soul longed for the firstfruits to eat. I have become like, says the Prophet, those who pick up the ears of grain that have slipped from the hands of the reapers, or who look for the small clusters left by those who gathered grapes; because I did not find a single grape of humility, although I extremely desired to find something desirable and suitable for firstfruits. For he expressed this in the words: “My soul desired to eat the firstfruits.” Because the firstborn were offered to God; That which is rightly worthy of love is called firstfruits. And wanting to make this allegorical expression clear, the Prophet added: Micah 7:2. Oh, my dear soul! for the pious perished from the earth, and there is no one to correct among men. Then he lists the sins, and says: those who judge pronounce an unjust sentence on the innocent, and dare to commit lawless murders: and the others, each wanting more, appropriate what belongs to their neighbor. He who is appointed to judge according to the laws, because of his greed for bribes, does not wait for them to bring him, but asks for the gift himself. Micah 7:3. The prince asks, and the judge is a peaceful word of the verb; the desire of his soul is: For, having taken a gift from the offenders, he promises them the desired victory. Therefore God says in the Prophet: Micah 7:4. Like a moth you eat, and walk according to the rules on the day of watch. Like a moth that makes its way into a tree and damages everything with its teeth, you will be destroyed by the judgment pronounced on you on the day of punishment. For the Prophet called the punishment “strikes,” that is, God’s coming on this day. Then, like a humane Father punishing with tears, he continues: Uh, lute! oh, lute! Your vengeance hastened; now will be their laments. When this happens, says the Prophet; a friend will not protect a friend, a king will not take care of his subjects, a wife will not take care of her husband: but each will care about his own salvation, looking for where to find refuge from disasters; even a son will not show due honor to his father, a daughter will not pay respect to her mother, a daughter-in-law will not take care of her mother-in-law; everyone will become distant from each other, will not pay attention to each other, will barely even bother to provide for their own salvation. This is how they will be. Mic.7:7. But I will look to the Lord, I will endure God my Savior, And showing what a fruit patience is, he continues: Having so clearly shown the benefits of trusting in God, the Prophet takes upon himself the face of Jerusalem, and turns his speech to Idumea, which has always been hostile and hostile to Jerusalem. Micah 7:8. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, for I have fallen and will rise again, taking advantage of God's care for me; because God will send down a ray of His light to those who are in darkness. Now: Micah 7:9. I will endure the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, Looking at the severity of sin, I recognize the justice of the punishment. However, I expect a truthful trial for those who have taken up arms against me. For if I suffer punishment for my sins, then they too judged me unfairly. The following words have this meaning: Until then he will justify my rule: and he will execute my judgment, and bring me into the light, and I will see His righteousness. I was justly condemned by God, and in relation to them, in many respects the truth is on my side. That is why I am awaiting God’s verdict, and when I see that this verdict has been pronounced, then I will be freed from their slavery. Micah 7:10. And my enemy will see and be clothed with cold, saying to me: Where is your God? Not only will she see my prosperity and the power of my God, against whom she strained her tongue, but I will also see her misfortune. My eyes will look upon the nude, now it will be trampled underfoot like stone on the way. Micah 7:11–12. The day of the smoothing of the plinth, that day shall be thy blotting out, and thy laws shall be blotted out on that day. And your cities will come to defeat 3 and to divide the Assyrians. Just as clay, prepared for lubricating and smoothing plinths, being thrown out the door, is trampled upon by everyone passing by, and therefore its blocks are ground as much as necessary: ​​so you will be accessible to everyone and comprehensible to everyone, everyone living around will begin to ruin and trample you. Then your illegal laws will come to an end, and the cities will be under siege (this is what the Prophet called “deception”) and many inhabitants, who will be divided among themselves by enemies, will be forced into slavery. And because of the disasters of the Jews, other neighboring cities also rejoiced: the Prophet, of necessity, mentions Tire, Syria, and other cities devastated by the Babylonians and Assyrians; He also says which cities these are, indicating their boundaries, for he says: and from sea even to sea: and from mountain further to mountain, that is, everything in the middle of the city from the black sea, which is to the east, to the western sea, and from Mount Idumea to Lebanon, will be given over to the enemies. For he added this, saying: For, like water rushing with noise, this numerous army will attack, and will lead the land into desolation, and will give over the inhabitants to murder and slavery. And showing the reason for this, the Prophet says: Micah 7:13. From the fruits of their undertakings. Having thus predicted what would happen to the neighboring peoples, he foretells peace for the people of God upon their return from captivity. Micah 7:14. Feed your people with the rod of your tribe, the sheep of your inheritance, And because he allegorically called people sheep; then he continued the allegory. those who inhabit are united in the oak grove that is, a people separated from all nations, and having its own special pasture. And with these words: “by the rod of your tribe” the Prophet means the tribe of Judah; because but the return ruled the others, and there was no longer any division between the tribes. Then, showing that all the land that was owned before the captivity would be owned upon return, the Prophet added: environment of Carmel, Basanitis and Gileaditis will be shepherded, according to the day of the century. Micah 7:15. And on the day of your exodus from Egypt you will see a wonderful thing. To what extent did I give you a country when you left Egypt, to the same extent when you return from Babylon, striking with miracles those who attempted to attack you. And the nations will be filled with shame, seeing this and seeing the weakness of their own strength. Micah 7:16–17. The pagans will see and be ashamed of all their strength, they will lay their hands on their mouths, and their ears will be deaf, they will lick the dust like a serpent slithering on the earth, they will be confused in their dishonesty: they will be horrified at our Lord God, and they will be afraid of You. Seeing your sudden success, and the help I am giving you, they will not dare to say a word contrary to you: but, like writhing snakes, they will fall to the ground, not daring to do or say anything. Having aroused himself with these words, in amazement at God’s love for mankind, the Prophet cried out: Micah 7:18. Who is God like You, taking away iniquity and leaving wickedness as the remnant of Your inheritance? Driven by indescribable goodness, which no word can describe, You, O Lord, do not subject them to the examination that people deserve for their sins, but as soon as you have punished them, you see even a small repentance, you do not look at their misdeeds, you consign their wicked deeds to oblivion, just as You have done now with Your people. And He did not restrain His wrath in witness that He is the author of mercy. This is similar to what was said by blessed David: “he is not completely angry, he is at enmity forever, he did not create for us to eat because of our sins, he repaid us to eat because of our iniquities” (Ps. 103:9, 10). Therefore, the God-wise Micah cries out that he did not retain His anger for a long time as a reproof and testimony of the iniquity of the people, but, led by mercy, He will turn away His anger. Micah 7:19. He will convert us, and graciously, and take away our sins. Likewise, the God of all Himself cries out through the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah: I am, I am the one who atones for your iniquities, and I will not remember your iniquities (Is. 43:25). What is extraordinary is that it not only forgives sins, but also casts them out of memory and consigns them to oblivion, as if plunging them into some abyss. For, expressing this, blessed Micah said: “He will plunge our sins, and all our sins will be cast into the depths of the sea.” For just as something thrown into the depths of the sea disappeared forever: so, says the Prophet, he will consign our sins to final oblivion for the sake of covenants with our ancestors. And explaining this, he added: Micah 7:20. He will give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as you swore by our father in the first days. So blessed David says: “I will remember my covenant forever, the word, the commandment of a thousand generations: I made a commandment to Abraham, and my oath to Isaac: and I established it for Jacob as a commandment, and for Israel as an everlasting covenant” (Ps. 104:8, 10). So the Lord cast their sins into the depths of the sea: and he blots out our sins in the sacred and divine font, according to the word of the divine Apostle, typified by the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:2), after crossing through which the people of God were freed from the slavery of Egypt. In accordance with this foreshadowing, we, freed by the holy font from the torment of the devil, will take care of our own salvation, constantly chanting the songs of the Benefactor, following His laws and walking the path laid out by the saints, so that together with them we can reach the good end of this path, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever! Amen. In Blessed Theodoret, instead of εις ὀμαλιομὸν (comparison, read ἐις ουγκλειομὸν). This same word is used by the Prophet below in v. 17th.