1 Now gather yourself in troops,
O daughter of troops;
He has laid siege against us;
# They willstrike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
The Coming Messiah
2 “But you,BethlehemEphrathah,
# Thoughyou are littleamong thethousands of Judah,
Yetout of you shall come forth to Me
# The One to beRuler in Israel,
# Whose goings fortharefrom of old,
From everlasting.”
3 Therefore He shall give them up,
# Until the timethatshe who is in labor has given birth;
# Thenthe remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
4 And He shall stand andfeedHisflock
In the strength of theLord,
In the majesty of the name of theLordHis God;
And they shall abide,
# For now Heshall be great
To the ends of the earth;
5 And thisOneshall be peace.
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
When the Assyrian comes into our land,
And when he treads in our palaces,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight princely men.
6 They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria,
# And the land ofNimrod at its entrances;
# Thus He shalldeliverusfrom the Assyrian,
When he comes into our land
And when he treads within our borders.
7 Thenthe remnant of Jacob
Shall be in the midst of many peoples,
# Like dew from theLord,
Like showers on the grass,
That tarry for no man
Nor wait for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the Gentiles,
In the midst of many peoples,
# Like alion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Who, if he passes through,
Both treads down and tears in pieces,
And none can deliver.
9 Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 “And it shall be in that day,” says theLord,
# “That I willcut off yourhorses from your midst
# And destroy yourchariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
12 I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
# And you shall have nosoothsayers.
13 Your carved images I will also cut off,
And yoursacredpillars from your midst;
# You shallno more worship the work of your hands;
14 I will pluck your wooden images from your midst;
Thus I will destroy your cities.
15 And I willexecute vengeance in anger and fury
On the nations that have not heard.”