1 “Now cut yourself in bitter grief, daughter besieged by soldiers. They have set a wall around you. They strike the ruler of Israel, in the face with a rod.
2 “Bethlehem in Ephrathah, small among the tribes of Judah, from you will come a king who will rule for me over Israel, whose family line goes back to the distant past.”
3 So the Lord will only abandon Israel to its enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then the survivors will be reunited with their own people.
4 And he will stand and shepherd by the strength of the Lord , In the exalted name of the Lord his God; And they will live in security, for now he will be great, even to the ends of the earth.
5 This will be our peace: when Assyria comes into our land and treads on our soil, we will raise up against him seven shepherds, eight leaders of men.
6 They will shepherd Assyria with a sword, and the land of Nimrod with bared blades. They will deliver us from Assyria, when they come into our land, and tread within our borders.
7 And the survivors of Jacob will be disbursed among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord , like showers on the grass, which don’t wait for people to come or linger for mortals.
8 And the survivors of Jacob will be disbursed among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the sheep-folds, who, when he passes through, pounces. He savages his prey. There is no rescuer.
9 Let your hand triumph over your adversaries, let all your enemies be cut off.
10 On that day, says the Lord : “I will slaughter your horses from your midst, and destroy your chariots.
11 I will devastate the cities in your land, and tear down your fortresses.
12 I will destroy your magic charms, and you will have no soothsayers.
13 I will cut down your idols and sacred pillars, and you will not worship any more the work of your hands.
14 I will uproot your sacred poles, and destroy your idols.
15 In my wrath and my anger I will seek vengeance on the nations that ignore me.”