Now muster troops, O daughter of troops;
    a siege he puts against us.
They strike the ruler of Israel
    with a rod on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you one will go out for me,
    to be ruler in Israel;
and his origins are from of old,
    from ancient days.
Therefore he will give them up
    until the time of she who is with child has given birth.
And the rest of his brothers will return
    to the children of Israel.
And he will stand and shepherd his flock
    in the strength of Yahweh,
    in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.
And they will live,
    for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth.
And this one will be peace.
As for the Assyrian, when he comes into our land
    and when he treads on our fortresses,
then we will raise up against him seven shepherds
    and eight leaders of men.
And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
    and the land of Nimrod at its entrances.
And he will rescue us from the Assyrian
    when he comes into our land,
    and when they tread upon our border.

And the remnant of Jacob will be
    in the midst of many nations,
like dew from Yahweh,
    like showers upon the grass
which does not wait for a man,
    nor delays for the children of humankind.
And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the wild animals of the forest,
    like a young lion among the herds of sheep
which, when it passes through and treads down
    and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.
Your hand will be lifted high over your enemies,
    and all your foes will be cut off.
"And it will happen that in that day," declares Yahweh,
    "then I will cut off your horses from among you,
    and I will destroy your chariots.
And I will cut off the cities of your land,
    and I will demolish all your fortifications.
And I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
    and you will not have soothsayers.
And I will cut off your idols
    and your stone pillars from among you,
and you will no longer bow down
    to the work of your hands.
And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you,
    and I will destroy your cities.
And in anger and in wrath I will execute vengeance
    on the nations who did not obey."

Hear now what Yahweh says:
"Arise! Plead your case with the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice."
Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh,
    and you eternal foundations of the earth,
for Yahweh has an indictment against his people,
    and against Israel he contends.
"O my people, what have I done to you,
    and how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
    and from the house of slavery I redeemed you.
    And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.
O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised,
    and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
    so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh."

With what shall I approach Yahweh,
    and bow down to God on high?
Shall I approach him with burnt offerings,
    with bull calves a year old?
Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with myriads of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
    and what does Yahweh ask from you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

The voice of Yahweh calls to the city
    (it is sound judgment to fear your name):
    "Hear, O staff! Now who has appointed it?
Is there any longer a man in the house of the wicked
    treasures of wickedness,
    and the ephah of scarcity which is accursed?
Shall I regard as pure the one with scales of wickedness,
    and with a bag of deceitful weights?
Because her rich are full of violence,
    and her inhabitants speak lies,
    and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
And I also have made you sick by striking you down,
    making you desolate because of your sins.
You yourself will eat but not be satisfied;
    your hunger will be in your midst,
and you will put away, but you will not save,
    and what you save I will hand over to the sword.
You yourself will sow, but you will not reap;
    you will tread olives, but you will not anoint yourself with oil;
    you will tread grapes, but you will not drink wine.
For you have observed the regulations of Omri
    and all the works of the house of Ahab.
And you have walked in their counsels,
    so that I am making you a desolation
and your inhabitants an object of scorn.
    So you will bear the scorn of my people.

Woe is me! For I have become
    like the gatherings of summer,
    like the gleanings of the grape harvest,
when there is no cluster of grapes to eat
    or early ripened fruit that my soul desires.
The faithful person has perished from the land,
    and there is none who is upright among humankind.
All of them lie in wait;
    each hunts his brother with a net.
Their hands are upon evil, to do it well;
    the official and the judge ask for the bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
    and they weave it together.
The best of them is like a brier;
    the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come;
    now their confusion will come.
Do not put faith in a friend;
    put no trust in a close friend.
Guard the doorways of your mouth
    from the one who lies in your lap.
For a son treats a father with contempt;
    a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
    the enemies of a man are the men of his own house.
But as for me, I will look to Yahweh;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation.
    My God will hear me.
You should not rejoice over me, O my enemy!
    When I fall I will stand up;
when I sit in darkness
    Yahweh will be a light for me.
I will bear the rage of Yahweh,
    for I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
    and executes my justice.
He will bring me out to the light;
    I will see his righteousness.
Then my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who said to me,
"Where is Yahweh your God?"
    My eyes will look upon her;
now she will become a trampling place,
    like mud in the streets.
A day for building your walls;
    on that day he will extend your boundary.
On that day he will come to you
    from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
    and from sea to sea
    and mountain to mountain.
But the earth will be a desolation
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.
Shepherd your people with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
those dwelling alone in a forest
    in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
    as in the days of old.
As in the days when you came out
    from the land of Egypt
    I will show him wondrous things.
The nations will see and be ashamed
    because of all their might.
They will lay the hand on the mouth;
    their ears will be deaf.
They will lick the dust like the serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
    to Yahweh our God.
    Let them fear and be afraid of you.
Who is a God like you, forgiving sin
    and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
    for he delights in loyal love.
He will again have compassion on us;
    he will trample our iniquities.
And you will hurl all their sins
    in the depths of the sea.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
    and loyal love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
    from the days of old.