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, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come
forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from
of old, from everlasting. Mt 2:6 |
3 |
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth
hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the
children of Israel. |
4 | And
he shall 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 shall he be great unto the
ends of the earth. |
5 | And
this man shall 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 the entrances thereof: thus shall 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 go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can
deliver. |
9 | Thine hand
shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine 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 thine hand; and thou shalt
have no more soothsayers: |
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 thine 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. |