Micah 5:1-3

GOD’S WORD Translation

5 ^[a]Now, gather your troops, you city of troops.
We are under attack.
Enemies will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek with a stick.

² You, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are too small to be included among Judah’s cities.
Yet, from you Israel’s future ruler will come for me.
His origins go back to the distant past, to days long ago.
³ That is why the Lord will abandon Israel
until the time a mother has a child.
Then the rest of the Lord’s people will return to the people of Israel.