5
1 Now
you shall gather yourself
in troops,
daughter of troops.
He has laid siege
against us.
They will strike
the judge of
Israel with a rod
on the cheek.
2 But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
being small among
the clans of Judah,
out of you
one will come
out to me
who is to
be ruler in Israel;
whose goings out
are from of
old, from ancient
times.
3 Therefore
he will abandon
them until the
time that she
who is in labor
gives birth.
Then the rest of
his brothers will return
to the children
of Israel.
4 He
shall stand, and
shall shepherd in
the strength of
the LORD,
in the majesty of
the name of the
LORD his God.
They will live,
for then he
will be great to
the ends of
the earth.
5 He
will be our peace
when Assyria invades our
land
and when
he marches through
our fortresses,
then we will raise
against him seven
shepherds,
and eight leaders of men.
6 They
will rule the land
of Assyria with
the sword,
and the land
of Nimrod in
its gates.
He will deliver
us from
the Assyrian,
when he invades
our land,
and when
he marches within
our border.
7 The
remnant of Jacob
will be among
many peoples
like dew from the
LORD,
like showers on
the grass,
that don’t wait for
man
nor wait for
the sons of men.
8 The remnant
of Jacob will be
among the nations,
among many peoples,
like a lion among
the animals of
the forest,
like a young lion
among the flocks
of sheep;
who, if he goes
through, treads down
and tears in pieces,
and there is
no one to deliver.
9 Let
your hand be lifted
up above your adversaries,
and let all
of your enemies be
cut off.
10 “It
will happen in
that day”, says the
LORD,
“that I will
cut off your horses
from among you
and will destroy
your chariots.
11 I
will cut off
the cities of
your land
and will tear
down all
your strongholds.
12 I
will destroy witchcraft
from your hand.
You shall have
no soothsayers.
13 I
will cut off your engraved images
and your pillars
from among you;
and you shall no
more worship the work of
your hands.
14 I
will uproot your Asherah poles
from among you;
and I will
destroy your cities.
15 I will execute vengeance in
anger
and wrath on the nations that didn’t listen.”