Micah, 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.

1. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah, from you shall I raise the one who is to rule over Israel. For he comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.

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.

2. Yahweh, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she who is to give birth has given birth. Then the rest of his deported brothers will return to the people of Israel.

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.

3. He will stand and shepherd his flock with the strength of Yahweh, in the glorious Name of Yahweh, his God. They will live safely while he wins renown to the ends of the earth.

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.

4. He shall be peace. When the Assyrian invades our land and sets foot on our territory, we will raise against him not one but seven shepherds, eight warlords.

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.

5. They will rule Assyria with the sword, and Babylonia with the bared blade. He will deliver us from the Assyrians when they come into our land, when they set foot within our borders.

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.

6. Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew dropping down from Yahweh, like showers falling upon the grass. For they do not put their hope in man or expect anything from mortals.

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.

7. The remnant of Jacob will then be in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion in a flock of sheep, trampling down as it goes, mangling its prey, and no rescuer in sight.

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.

8. May your hand be raised high over your foes, and all your enemies perish.

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

9. "On that day - Yahweh speaks - I will drive away your horses; I will wreck your chariots,

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:

10. I will demolish your cities and tear down your strongholds.

11. And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:

11. I will do away with your witchcraft and rid you of soothsayers.

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

12. I will abolish your carved images, the sacred stones from your midst, so that you no longer worship the work of your hands.

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.

13. I will pull down your sacred poles and destroy all your idols.

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

14. In raging fury I will take vengeance upon the nations that have not obeyed me."

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

15.