Micah

Micah, chapter 5, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 5 New English Translation

   1 (14) But now slash yourself, daughter surrounded by soldiers! We are besieged! With a scepter they strike Israel's ruler on the side of his face.

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

   2 (1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah - from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.
   3 So the LORD will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of the king's countrymen will return to be reunited with the people of Israel.
   4 He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the LORD's strength, by the sovereign authority of the LORD his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth.
   5 He will give us peace. Should the Assyrians try to invade our land and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, we will send against them seven shepherd-rulers, make that eight commanders.
   6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with a drawn sword. Our king will rescue us from the Assyrians should they attempt to invade our land and try to set foot in our territory.
   7 Those survivors from Jacob will live in the midst of many nations. They will be like the dew the LORD sends, like the rain on the grass, that does not hope for men to come or wait around for humans to arrive.
   8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which attacks when it passes through; it rips its prey and there is no one to stop it.
   9 Lift your hand triumphantly against your adversaries; may all your enemies be destroyed!

The LORD Will Purify His People

   10 "In that day," says the LORD, "I will destroy your horses from your midst, and smash your chariots.
   11 I will destroy the cities of your land, and tear down all your fortresses.
   12 I will remove the sorcery that you practice, and you will no longer have omen readers living among you. 13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst; you will no longer worship what your own hands made.
   14 I will uproot your images of Asherah from your midst, and destroy your idols.
   15 I will angrily seek vengeance on the nations that do not obey me."

King James Version

   1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
   2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
   3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
   4 ¶ And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
   5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
   6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
   7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
   8 ¶ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
   9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
   10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
   11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
   12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
   13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
   14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
   15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.