5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath
laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel
with a rod upon the cheek.
5:2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, [though] thou art little
among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come
forth to me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth
[have been] from of old, from everlasting.
5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time [that] she
who travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his
brethren shall return to the children of Israel.
5:4 And he will 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 will he be great to the ends of the earth.
5:5 And this [man] will be the peace, when the Assyrian shall
come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces,
then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight
principal men.
5:6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and
the land of Nimrod in its entrances: thus will he deliver [us]
from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he
treadeth within our borders.
5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many
people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass,
that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
5:8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles in the
midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest,
as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he goeth
through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none
can deliver.
5:9 Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thy adversaries, and all
thy enemies shall be cut off.
5:10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will
destroy thy chariots:
5:11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down
all thy strong holds:
5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou
shalt have no [more] sooth-sayers:
5:13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing
images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship
the work of thy hands.
5:14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so
will I destroy thy cities.
5:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the
heathen, such as they have not heard.
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