1 Now you will give yourselves deep wounds for grief; they will put up a wall round us: they will give the judge of Israel a blow on the face with a rod. 2 And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days. 3 For this cause he will give them up till the time when she who is with child has given birth: then the rest of his brothers will come back to the children of Israel. 4 And he will take his place and give food to his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the glory of the name of the Lord his God; and their resting-place will be safe: for now he will be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And this will be our peace: when the Assyrian comes into our country and his feet are in our land, then we will put up against him seven keepers of the flocks and eight chiefs among men. 6 And they will make waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the edge of the sword: he will give us salvation from the Assyrian when he comes into our country, when his feet come inside the limit of our land. 7 And the rest of Jacob will be among the mass of peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which may not be kept back by man, or be waiting for the sons of men. 8 And the rest of Jacob will be among the nations, in the middle of the mass of peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the woods, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep: if he goes through, they will be crushed under foot and pulled to bits, and there will be no saviour. 9 Your hand is lifted up against those who are against you, and all your haters will be cut off. 10 And it will come about in that day, says the Lord, that I will take away your horses from you, and will give your war-carriages to destruction: 11 I will have the towns of your land cut off and all your strong places pulled down: 12 I will put an end to your use of secret arts, and you will have no more readers of signs: 13 And I will have your images and your pillars cut off from you; and you will no longer give worship to the work of your hands. 14 I will have your Asherahs pulled up from among you: and I will send destruction on your images. 15 And my punishment will be effected on the nations with such burning wrath as they have not had word of. | |