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¹"Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; A state of siege has been placed against us. They shall strike the ruler of Israel on the cheek with a rod (scepter).

²"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah; From you One shall come forth for Me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel, His goings forth (appearances) are from long ago, From ancient days."

³Therefore, He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has given birth to a child. Then what is left of His kinsmen Shall return to the children of Israel.

⁴And He shall stand and shepherd and guide His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall dwell [secure in undisturbed peace], Because at that time He shall be great [extending His authority] [Even] to the ends of the earth.

⁵This One [the Messiah] shall be our peace. When the Assyrian invades our land And tramples on our citadels and in our palaces, Then shall we raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princes [an overpowering force] among men.

⁶They shall devastate the land of Assyria with the sword and The land of Nimrod within her [own] gates. And He (the Messiah) shall rescue us from the Assyrian (all enemy nations) When he attacks our land And when he tramples our territory.

⁷Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be among many peoples Like dew from the LORD, Like showers on the grass [a source of blessing] Which [come suddenly and] do not wait for man Nor delay for the sons of men.

⁸The remnant of Jacob Shall be among the nations, In the midst of many peoples Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young lion [suddenly appearing] among the flocks of sheep Which, if he passes through, Tramples down and tears into pieces [the nations in judgment], And there is no one to rescue.

⁹Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries, And all your enemies shall be cut off and destroyed.

¹⁰"And in that day," says the LORD, "I will cut off your horses from among you And destroy your chariots [on which you depend].

¹¹"I will cut off the cities of your land And tear down all your fortifications.

¹²"I will cut off witchcrafts and sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no more fortune-tellers.

¹³"I will also cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars from among you, So that you will no longer worship and bow down To the work of your hands.

¹⁴"I will root out your Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) from among you And destroy your cities [which are the centers of pagan worship].

¹⁵"And in anger and wrath I shall execute vengeance On the nations which have not obeyed [such vengeance as they have not known before]."

¹Hear now what the LORD is saying, "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills [as witnesses] hear your voice.

²"Hear, O mountains, the indictment of the LORD, And you enduring foundations of the earth, For the LORD has a case (a legal complaint) against His people, And He will dispute (challenge) Israel.

³"O My people, what have I done to you [since you have turned away from Me]? And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

⁴"For I brought you up from the land of Egypt And ransomed you from the house of slavery, And I sent before you Moses [to lead you], Aaron [the high priest], and Miriam [the prophetess].

⁵"My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab devised [with his evil plan against Israel] And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him [turning the curse into blessing for Israel], [Remember what the LORD did for you] from Shittim to Gilgal, So that you may know the righteous and saving acts [displaying the power] of the LORD."

⁶With what shall I come before the LORD [to honor Him] And bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?

⁷Will the LORD be delighted with thousands of rams, Or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my acts of rebellion, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]?

⁹The voice of the LORD shall call to the city [of Jerusalem]— And it is sound wisdom to heed [solemnly] and fear Your name [with awe-filled reverence]; "Hear, O tribe [the rod of punishment]. Who has appointed its time?

¹⁰"Are there not still treasures gained by wickedness In the house of the wicked, And a short (inaccurate) measure [for grain] that is cursed?

¹¹"Can I [be guiltless and] justify deceptive scales And a bag of dishonest weights?

¹²"For the rich men of the city are full of violence [of every kind]; Her inhabitants speak lies And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³"So also I will make you sick, striking you down, Desolating and devastating you, because of your sins.

¹⁴"You shall eat, but you will not be satisfied, And your emptiness shall be among you; You will [try to] remove [your goods and those you love] for safekeeping But you will fail to save anything, And what you do save I shall give to the sword.

¹⁵"You shall sow but you shall not reap; You shall tread olives, but shall not anoint yourself with oil, And [you will extract juice from] the grapes, but you shall not drink the wine.

¹⁶"For [you have kept] the statutes of Omri [the idolatrous king], And all the works of the [wicked] house (dynasty) of Ahab; And you walk in their counsels and policies. Therefore, I shall hand you over for destruction and horror And your [city's] inhabitants for ridicule, And you shall bear the rebuke and scorn of My people."

¹Woe is me (judgment is coming)! For I am Like one who gathers the summer fruits, like one who gleans the vintage grapes. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, No first-ripe fig which my appetite craves.

²The godly person [who is faithful and loyal to God] has perished from the earth, And there is no upright person [one with good character and moral integrity] among men. They all lie in wait to shed blood; Each hunts the other with a net.

³Concerning evil, both of their hands pursue it and do it diligently and thoroughly; The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man speaks the [evil] desire of his soul. So they twist the course of justice between them.

⁴The best of them is [injurious] like a briar; The most upright is [prickly] like a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen [that is, the time predicted by the prophets] And your punishment comes; Now shall be their confusion.

⁵Do not trust in a neighbor [because of the moral corruption in the land]; Do not have confidence in a friend. Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom.

⁶For the son dishonors the father and treats him contemptuously, The daughter rises up [in hostility] against her mother, The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— A man's enemies are the men (members) of his own household.

⁷But as for me, I will look expectantly for the LORD and with confidence in Him I will keep watch; I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

⁸Do not rejoice over me [amid my tragedies], O my enemy! Though I fall, I will rise; Though I sit in the darkness [of distress], the LORD is a light for me.

⁹I will bear the indignation and wrath of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will behold His [amazing] righteousness and His remarkable deliverance.

¹⁰Then my enemy [all the pagan nations] shall see it, And shame [for despising the LORD] will cover her who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will look on her [with satisfaction at her judgment]; Now she (unbelievers) will be trampled down Like mud of the streets.

¹¹It shall be a day for building your walls, On that day the boundary [of Israel] shall be [greatly] extended.

¹²It shall be a day when the Gentiles will come to you From Assyria and from the cities of Egypt, And from Egypt even to the river Euphrates, From sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

¹³Yet the earth [beyond the land of Israel] shall become desolate because of those who dwell in it, Because of the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴Shepherd and rule Your people with Your scepter [of blessing], The flock of Your inheritance and Your possession Which dwells alone [separate and secure from attack] in the forest, In the midst of a garden land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead As in the days of old [the days of Moses and Elijah].

¹⁵"As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I shall show you marvelous and miraculous things."

¹⁶The [pagan] nations shall see [God's omnipotence in delivering Israel] and be ashamed Of all their might [which cannot be compared to His]. They shall put their hand on their mouth [in silent astonishment]; Their ears shall be deaf.

¹⁷They shall lick the dust like a serpent; Like crawling things of the earth They shall come trembling out of their fortresses and hiding places. They shall turn and come with fear and dread to the LORD our God And they shall be afraid and stand in awe before You [O LORD].

¹⁸Who is a God like You, who forgives wickedness And passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He [constantly] delights in mercy and lovingkindness.

¹⁹He shall again have compassion on us; He will subdue and tread underfoot our wickedness [destroying sin's power]. Yes, You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You shall give truth to Jacob And lovingkindness and mercy to Abraham, As You have sworn to our forefathers From the days of old.