1Now shalt thou 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. 2But thou , Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth are from of old , from everlasting. 3Therefore will he give them up , until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth : then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4And he shall stand , and shall feed his flock in the strength of Jehovah , in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and they shall abide ; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. 5And this man shall be our 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. 6And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof : and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land , and when he treadeth within our border .
The Remnant of Israel
7And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah , as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man , nor wait for the sons of men . 8And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who , if he go through , treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver. 9Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off .
The Judgment on Israel's Enemies
10And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah , that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee , and will destroy thy chariots: 11and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and will throw down all thy strongholds. 12And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand ; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13and I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee ; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands; 14and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee ; and I will destroy thy cities. 15And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearkened not.