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 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

³ Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

⁴ And he shall 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 shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

⁵ And this man shall 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.

⁶ And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he 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 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.

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 go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

⁹ Thine 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 the LORD, 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 throw down all thy strong holds:

¹² And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:

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 thine hands.

¹⁴ And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.

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

¹ Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

² Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

³ When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

⁴ As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

⁵ When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

⁶ When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

⁷ When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!

⁸ The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.

⁹ The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

¹⁰ The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹ When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

¹² Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

¹³ The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.

¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

¹⁶ I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.

¹⁷ And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

¹⁸ Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹ My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.

²⁰ My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.

²¹ Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.

²² After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.

²³ And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

²⁴ If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.

²⁵ I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.