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.

3  Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of his brothers shall return

to the people of Israel.

4  And he shall stand and ^gshepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall dwell secure, for now ^hhe shall be great

to the ends of the earth.

5  And he shall be their ⁱpeace.

When the Assyrian comes into our land

and treads in our palaces,

then we will raise against him seven shepherds

and eight princes of men;

14  ^tShepherd your people with your staff,

the flock of your inheritance,

who dwell alone in a forest

in the midst of a garden land;¹

^ulet them graze in Bashan and Gilead

as in the days of old.

15  As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

I will show them² marvelous things.

16  The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;

they shall lay their hands on their mouths;

their ears shall be deaf;

17  they shall ^vlick the dust like a serpent,

like the crawling things of the earth;

they shall ^wcome trembling out of their strongholds;

they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,

and they shall be in fear of you.