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¹“Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; They have laid siege against us; With a rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.

²But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

³Therefore He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has given birth. Then the remainder of His kinsmen Will return to the sons of Israel.

⁴And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth.

⁵This One will be our peace. When the Assyrian invades our land, When he tramples on our citadels, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight leaders of people.

⁶They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, The land of Nimrod at its entrances; And He will rescue us from the Assyrian When he invades our land, And when he tramples our territory.

⁷Then the remnant of Jacob Will be among many peoples Like dew from the LORD, Like showers on vegetation That do not wait for man, Or delay for mankind.

⁸The remnant of Jacob Will be among the nations, Among many peoples Like a lion among the animals of the forest, Like a young lion among flocks of sheep, Which, if he passes through, Tramples and tears, And there is no one who can rescue.

⁹Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries, And all your enemies will be eliminated.

¹⁰“And it will be on that day,” declares the LORD, “That I will eliminate your horses from among you, And destroy your chariots.

¹¹I will also eliminate the cities of your land, And tear down all your fortifications.

¹²I will eliminate sorceries from your hand, And you will have no fortune-tellers.

¹³I will eliminate your carved images And your memorial stones from among you, So that you will no longer bow down To the work of your hands.

¹⁴I will uproot your Asherim from among you, And destroy your cities.

¹⁵And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath On the nations which have not obeyed.”

¹Hear now what the LORD is saying, “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice.

²Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the LORD, And you enduring foundations of the earth, Because the LORD has a case against His people; And He will dispute with Israel.

³My people, what have I done to you, And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

⁴Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of slavery, And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

⁵My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab planned And what Balaam son of Beor answered him, And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, So that you might know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

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

⁷Does the LORD take pleasure in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

⁹The voice of the LORD will call to the city— And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name: “Hear, you tribe. Who has designated its time?

¹⁰Is there still a person in the wicked house, Along with treasures of wickedness, And a short measure that is cursed?

¹¹Can I justify dishonest balances, And a bag of fraudulent weights?

¹²For the rich people of the city are full of violence, Her residents speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³So also I will make you sick, striking you down, Making you desolate because of your sins.

¹⁴You will eat, but you will not be satisfied, And your filth will be in your midst. You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping, But you will not save it all, And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.

¹⁵You will sow but you will not harvest. You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil; And tread out sweet wine, but you will not drink any wine.

¹⁶The statutes of Omri And every work of the house of Ahab are maintained, And you walk by their plans. Therefore I will give you up for destruction, And your inhabitants for derision, And you will suffer the taunting of My people.”

¹Woe to me! For I am Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of grapes. There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat, Nor an early fig, which I crave.

²The godly person has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among mankind. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net.

³As for evil, both hands do it well. The leader asks for a bribe, also the judge, And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul; So they plot it together.

⁴The best of them is like a thorn bush, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment is coming. Then their confusion will occur.

⁵Do not trust in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a close friend. Guard your lips From her who lies in your arms.

⁶For son disavows father, Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.

⁷But as for me, I will be on the watch for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

⁸Do not rejoice over me, enemy of mine. Though I fall I will rise; Though I live in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

⁹I will endure the rage of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will look at His righteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look at her; At that time she will be trampled down Like mud of the streets.

¹¹It will be a day for building your walls. On that day your boundary will be extended.

¹²It will be a day when they will come to you From Assyria and the cities of Egypt, From Egypt even to the Euphrates River, Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹³And the earth will become a wasteland because of her inhabitants, On account of the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴Shepherd Your people with Your scepter, The flock of Your possession Which lives by itself in the woodland, In the midst of a fruitful field. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead As in the days of old.

¹⁵“As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.”

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed Of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf.

¹⁷They will lick up dust like a snake, Like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their fortresses; To the LORD our God they will come in trepidation, And they will be afraid of You.

¹⁸Who is a God like You, who pardons wrongdoing And passes over a rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.

¹⁹He will again take pity on us; He will trample on our wrongdoings. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will give truth to Jacob And favor to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.