Micah 5:1-5

New International Reader's Version

A Promised Ruler Will Come From Bethlehem

5 Jerusalem, you are being attacked.
So bring your troops together.
Our enemies have surrounded us.
They want to slap the face of Israel’s ruler.

²The Lord says,

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be
    an important town in the nation of Judah.
But out of you will come for me
    a ruler over Israel.
His family line goes back
    to the early years of your nation.
It goes all the way back
    to days of long ago.”

³The Lord will hand over his people to their enemies.
That will last until the pregnant woman bears her promised son.
Then the rest of his relatives in Judah
will return to their land.

⁴That promised son will stand firm
    and be a shepherd for his flock.
The Lord will give him the strength to do it.
    The Lord his God will give him
    the authority to rule.
His people will live safely.
    His greatness will reach
    from one end of the earth to the other.
⁵And he will be our peace
    when the Assyrians attack our land.
    They will march through our forts.
But we will raise up against them many shepherds.
    We’ll send out against them
    as many commanders as we need to.