1 ¶ Now thou shalt be besieged by armies, O daughter of the army: he shall lay siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

2 B ut 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 Lord in Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of the ages.

3 T herefore he will give them up until the time that she who travails has brought forth; then the remnant of his brethren shall return with the sons of Israel.

4 A nd 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 he shall be great unto the ends of the earth.

5 A nd he shall be our peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then we shall raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal men.

6 A nd they shall waste the land of Assyria with the blade, and the land of Nimrod with their swords; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes against our land and when he treads within our borders.

7 ¶ And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as the dew of the LORD, as the rains upon the grass, which did not expect a man, nor did they expect the sons of men.

8 A nd the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles 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 goes through and treads down and tears in pieces, there are none that can escape.

9 T hine hand shall be lifted up upon thine enemies, and all thine adversaries shall be cut off.

10 A nd it shall come to pass in that day, said the LORD, that I will cause thy horses to be killed out of the midst of thee, and I will cause thy chariots to be destroyed:

11 a nd I will cause all the cities of thy land to be destroyed, and I will cause all thy fortresses to be destroyed:

12 a nd I will cause the witchcrafts to be destroyed by thy hand; and no more soothsayers shall be found in thee:

13 a nd I will cause thy graven images and thy images to be destroyed out of the midst of thee; and never again shalt thou worship the work of thine hands.

14 A nd I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities.

15 A nd I will execute vengeance in anger and fury in the Gentiles who have not heard.