But thou, Beit-Lechem Efrata (אפרתה), [though] thou be little among
the thousands of Yehudah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth
unto me [that is] to be ruler in Yisrael; whose goings forth
[have been] from of old, from everlasting.
HaShem promises a ruler from Beit-Lechem Efrata (אפרתה).
The birth of Moshiach foretold
5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O bat troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Yisrael with a rod upon the cheek.
5:2
But thou, Beit-Lechem Efrata (אפרתה), [though] thou be little among
the thousands of Yehudah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth
unto me [that is] to be ruler in Yisrael; whose goings forth
[have been] from of old, from everlasting.
5:3 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 benai Yisrael.
5:4 And He shall stand and feed in the strength of YHWH (יהוה), in the majesty of b'shem YHWH (יהוה) Elohav; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the eretz.
5:5 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.
5:6 And they shall waste the eretz Assyria with the sword, and the eretz 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.
5:7 And the remnant of Yaakov shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from YHWH (יהוה), as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
5:8 And the remnant of Yaakov shall be among the goyim 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.
5:9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
5:10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith YHWH (יהוה), that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
5:11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no [more] soothsayers:
5:13 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.
5:14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
5:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.