^[a] Now muster your troops, Daughter Troop!^[b]
They have laid siege against us;
with a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.
² As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces,
one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.
His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.
³ Therefore, he will give them up
until the time when she who is in labor gives birth.
The rest of his kin will return to the people of Israel.
⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock^[c] in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
They will dwell secure,
because he will surely become great throughout the earth;
⁵ he will become one of peace.^[d]
When Assyria invades our land and treads down our fortresses,
then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight human princes.
⁶ They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword.
He will rescue us from Assyria
when he invades our land
and treads within our territory.
⁷ Then the few remaining in Jacob will be amid many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like spring showers upon the grass,
which does not hope for humans or wait for human ones.
⁸ Then the few remaining in Jacob will be among the nations,
amid many peoples,
like a lion among the creatures of the forest,
like a young lion among flocks
of sheep, which when it passes by, tramples and tears to pieces
with no one to deliver.
⁹ Your hand will be lifted over your foes;
all your enemies will be cut off.

Doom for Israel’s enemies