5 Mobilize! The enemy lays siege to Jerusalem! With a rod they shall strike the Judge of Israel on the face.

² “O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!” ³ God will abandon his people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her son; then at last his fellow countrymen—the exile remnants of Israel—will rejoin their brethren in their own land.

⁴ And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and his people shall remain there undisturbed, for he will be greatly honored all around the world. ⁵ He will be our Peace. And when the Assyrian^[a] invades our land and marches across our hills, he will appoint seven shepherds to watch over us, eight princes to lead us. ⁶ They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. He will deliver us from the Assyrians when they invade our land.

⁷ Then the nation of Israel will refresh the world like a gentle dew or the welcome showers of rain, ⁸ and Israel will be as strong as a lion. The nations will be like helpless sheep before her! ⁹ She will stand up to her foes; all her enemies will be wiped out.

¹⁰ “At that same time,” says the Lord, “I will destroy all the weapons you depend on, ¹¹ tear down your walls, and demolish the defenses of your cities. ¹² I will put an end to all witchcraft—there will be no more fortune-tellers to consult— ¹³ and destroy all your idols. Never again will you worship what you have made, ¹⁴ for I will abolish the heathen shrines from among you, and destroy the cities where your idol temples stand.

¹⁵ “I will pour out my vengeance upon the nations who refuse to obey me.”