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[a]Mobilize! Marshal your troops!
    The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem.
They will strike Israel’s leader
    in the face with a rod.

A Ruler from Bethlehem

[b]But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
    whose origins are in the distant past,
    will come from you on my behalf.
The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
    until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last his fellow countrymen
    will return from exile to their own land.
And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
    for he will be highly honored around the world.
    And he will be the source of peace.

When the Assyrians invade our land
    and break through our defenses,
we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us,
    eight princes to lead us.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:1 Verse 5:1 is numbered 4:14 in Hebrew text.
  2. 5:2 Verses 5:2-15 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.

[a]“Now marshal yourselves as troops.[b]
He has laid siege to us.
    They will strike the judge[c] of Israel on the cheek with a rod.”

The Ruler from Bethlehem

[d]“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    even though you remain least among the clans[e] of Judah,
nevertheless, the one who rules in Israel for me
    will emerge from you.
His existence has been[f] from antiquity,
    even from eternity.
Therefore that ruler[g] will abandon them
    until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then the rest of his countrymen will return to the Israelis.”

“Then he will take his stand,
    shepherding by means of the strength of the Lord,
        by the power[h] of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will be firmly[i] established;
    indeed, from then on he will become great—
        to the ends of the earth.
And he will be our peace.”

God’s Judgment on Assyria

“When the Assyrian invades our land,
    trampling through our palaces,
we will raise up seven shepherds against him,
    even eight significant men.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 5:1 5:1 is 4:14 in MT
  2. Micah 5:1 Lit. yourselves, you daughter of mobs
  3. Micah 5:1 Or ruler
  4. Micah 5:2 5:2 is 5:1 in MT, 5:3 is 5:2 in MT, and so throughout the chapter
  5. Micah 5:2 Or thousands
  6. Micah 5:2 The Heb. lacks has been
  7. Micah 5:3 Lit. Therefore he
  8. Micah 5:4 Or majesty
  9. Micah 5:4 The Heb. lacks firmly