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.
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2 | But thou, Bethlehem 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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9 | Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies
shall be cut off.
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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:
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11 | And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong
holds:
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12 | And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no
more soothsayers:
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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.
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14 | And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy
thy cities.
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15 | And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as
they have not heard.
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