| 1 | Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. |
| 2 | But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou art little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. |
| 3 | Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel. |
| 4 | And he will stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now will he be great to the ends of the earth. |
| 5 | And this man will be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. |
| 6 | And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its entrances: thus will he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. |
| 7 | And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. |
| 8 | And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he goeth through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. |
| 9 | Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thy adversaries, and all thy enemies shall be cut off. |
| 10 | And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: |
| 11 | And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: |
| 12 | And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more sooth-sayers: |
| 13 | Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands. |
| 14 | And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. |
| 15 | And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. |