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.

² (And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel: whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.)

³ Therefore will he give them up, until the time when she which travaileth shall have brought forth: and the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

⁴ And he shall stand and feed [his flock] in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God. And they shall abide; for now shall he be great even unto the ends of the earth.

⁵ And this [man] shall be 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 princes of men.

⁶ And they shall waste the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof; and he shall deliver [us] from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

⁷ And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, neither waiteth for the sons of men.

⁸ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, 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 go through, treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver.

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

¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots.

¹¹ And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and overthrow all thy strongholds.

¹² And I will cut off sorceries out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no soothsayers.

¹³ Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy statues out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more bow down to the work of thy hands.

¹⁴ And I will pluck up thine Asherahs out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy cities.

¹⁵ And I will execute vengeance in anger and in fury upon the nations, such as they have not heard of.

¹ The burden of the word of Jehovah, in the land of Hadrach, and [on] Damascus shall it rest; (for Jehovah hath an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel;)

² and also [on] Hamath [which] bordereth thereon; on Tyre and Zidon, though she be very wise.

³ And Tyre hath built herself a stronghold, and hath heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

⁴ Behold, the Lord will take possession of her, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

⁵ Ashkelon shall see [it], and fear; Gazah also, and she shall be greatly pained; Ekron also, for her expectation shall be put to shame: and the king shall perish from Gazah, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

⁶ And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines;

⁷ and I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; but he that remaineth, he also shall belong to our God, and shall be as a leader in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

⁸ And I will encamp about my house because of the army, because of those that pass by and that return; and the exactor shall not pass through them any more: for now have I seen [it] with mine eyes.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh to thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly and rIding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.

¹⁰ And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace unto the nations; and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.

¹¹ As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I will send forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

¹² Turn again to the stronghold, prisoners of hope! even to-day do I declare I will render double unto thee.

¹³ For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will raise up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and make thee like the sword of a mighty man.

¹⁴ And Jehovah shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpet, and will march with whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵ Jehovah of hosts will defend them; and they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling-stones; and they shall drink, [and] make a noise as from wine; and they shall be filled like a bowl, like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶ And Jehovah their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people; for [they shall be as] the stones of a crown, lifted up upon his land.

¹⁷ For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens.