8  “Judah, your brothers shall ^fpraise you;

your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

your father’s sons shall bow down before you.

9  ^gJudah is ^ha lion’s cub;

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down; he crouched as a lion

and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

10  ⁱThe scepter shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until tribute comes to him;¹

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

11  Binding his foal to the vine

and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

he has washed his garments in wine

and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

12  His eyes are darker than wine,

and his teeth whiter than milk.

2  ^{1 d}But you, O ^eBethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of ^fJudah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.

6  ⁿ“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who will ^oshepherd my people Israel.’”