¹Now you will gash yourself, daughter of troops; a siege has been set against us. With the rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.

²And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, are too little to be among the thousands of Judah; from you for me someone will go out to be a ruler in Israel, and his origins are from aforetime, from the days of old.

³Therefore he will give them up until the time when she who bears has borne; then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.

⁴He will stand and shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God; and they will dwell, for now he will become great to the ends of the land.

⁵And this one will be wholeness. When Assyria comes into our land and treads on our citadels, we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men.

⁶They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and he will deliver us from Assyria when he comes into our land and when he treads within our boundary.

⁷The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, which does not wait for anyone nor hope for the children of humankind.

⁸The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which, if it passes through, tramples and tears, and there is no one to rescue.

⁹May your hand be high over your opponents, and may all your enemies be cut off.

¹⁰And it will happen on that day, the utterance of Yahweh, that I will cut off your horses from your midst, and I will destroy your chariots.

¹¹And I will cut off the cities of your land, and I will tear down all your fortresses.

¹²And I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you will have no practisers of magic.

¹³And I will cut off your idols and your standing stones from your midst, and you will not bow down again to the work of your hands.

¹⁴And I will uproot your Asherah poles from your midst, and I will wipe out your cities.

¹⁵And I will carry out vengeance in anger and in burning rage on the nations that did not listen.