Now you shall gather yourself in troops,
Daughter of troops.
He has laid siege against us;
They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are small among the rulers of Judah,
Out of you will come forth to me one who is to be ruler over Israel;[1]
Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
3Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labour gives birth.
Then the rest of his brothers will return to Bani-Israel.
4He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Allah,
In the majesty of the name of Allah his God:
And they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.
5He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land,
And when he marches through our fortresses,
Then we will raise against him seven shepherds,
And eight leaders of men.
6They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
And the land of Namrud in its gates.
He will deliver us from the Assyrian,
When he invades our land,
And when he marches within our border.
7The remnant of Yaqub will be in the midst of many peoples,
Like dew from Allah,
Like showers on the grass,
That do not wait for man,
Nor wait for the sons of men.
8The remnant of Yaqub will be among the nations,
In the midst of many peoples,
Like a lion among the animals of the forest,
Like a young lion among the flocks of sheep;
Who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces,
And there is no one to deliver.
9Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries,
And let all of your enemies be cut off.
10“It will happen in that day,“ says Allah,
“That I will cut off your horses from among you,
And will destroy your chariots.
11I will cut off the cities of your land,
And will tear down all your strongholds.
12I will destroy witchcraft from your hand;
And you shall have no soothsayers.
13I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst;
And you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
14I will uproot your Asherim out of your midst;
And I will destroy your cities.
15I will execute vengeance in anger,
And wrath on the nations that did not listen.“
[1] 5:2 Quoted in the Injil, Matthew 2:6.