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Now you are walled around with a wall;

siege is laid against us;

with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel

upon the cheek.

The Ruler from Bethlehem

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has brought forth;

then the rest of his kindred shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the L ord,

in the majesty of the name of the L ord his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;

and he shall be the one of peace.

If the Assyrians come into our land

and tread upon our soil,

we will raise against them seven shepherds

and eight installed as rulers.

They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword;

they shall rescue us from the Assyrians

if they come into our land

or tread within our border.

The Future Role of the Remnant

Then the remnant of Jacob,

surrounded by many peoples,

shall be like dew from the L ord,

like showers on the grass,

which do not depend upon people

or wait for any mortal.

And among the nations the remnant of Jacob,

surrounded by many peoples,

shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,

like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,

which, when it goes through, treads down

and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver.

Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,

and all your enemies shall be cut off.

In that day, says the L ord,

I will cut off your horses from among you

and will destroy your chariots;

and I will cut off the cities of your land

and throw down all your strongholds;

and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,

and you shall have no more soothsayers;

and I will cut off your images

and your pillars from among you,

and you shall bow down no more

to the work of your hands;

and I will uproot your sacred poles from among you

and destroy your towns.

And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance

on the nations that did not obey.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

He now adds, I will cut off thy graven images and thy statues from the midst of thee; and thou shalt not hereafter bend down before the works of thine hands This verse is plain and contains nothing new: for the Prophet teaches that God cannot become propitious to his Church, to keep and make her safe, until he purges her from her filth, even from idolatry and other vices, by which the worship of God was corrupted, or even entirely subverted. I will, therefore, cut off thy graven images and statues ¹⁵⁸¹⁵⁸ מצבות, rather pillars or columns than statues: τας στηλας in the Sept. The pillar of stone which Jacob set up is called by this name, Genesis 28:18. They were commemorative pillars at which the Canaanites, and afterwards the Jews, offered idolatrous worship. There was a pillar of this kind in the house of Baal, 2 Kings 10:26, 27. They were not altars, though altars might have been reared by them, for both are mentioned together in Deuteronomy 12:3. The word is derived from יצב, to set, to fix firmly. The noun is rendered by Parkhurst, a standing pillar. — Ed. from the midst of thee We see that God anticipates us by his gratuitous goodness, not only by forgiving us, but also by calling us back, when wandering, into the right way. Since then we have deviated from the right way, and God thus withdraws his hand that it might appear that he has cast us away it is certain that we ought not only to pray him to have mercy on us, but also to ascribe to him a higher favor, inasmuch as he takes away the very impediments which separate us from him, and suffer him not to come nigh us. We hence see that God is not only inclined to pardon when men repent, but that it is his peculiar office to remove the obstacles.

This ought to be carefully noticed, that we may know that our salvation, from the first beginning, proceeds from the mere favor of God, — and that we may also learn, that all those things, of which the Papists vainly talk respecting preparations, are mere figments.

He then adds, thou shalt not bend hereafter before the work of thine hands. God expresses here the cause why he so much abominates idols, even because he sees that his honor is transferred to them: this is one thing. He further arraigns the Jews as guilty, while he makes evident their defection: for surely nothing could have been more shameful, than to take away from God his honor and worship, and to transfer them to dead things; and he says here by way of reproach, that they were the work of their hands. What can be more insane, than for men to ascribe divinity to their own inventions, or to believe that it is in the power of men to make a god from wood or stone? This is surely monstrous in the extreme. Then the Prophet by this form of speaking aggravates the sin of the people of Israel, that is, when he says that they bowed the head before the work of their oven hands.

¹⁵⁸ מצבות, rather pillars or columns than statues: τας στηλας in the Sept. The pillar of stone which Jacob set up is called by this name, Genesis 28:18. They were commemorative pillars at which the Canaanites, and afterwards the Jews, offered idolatrous worship. There was a pillar of this kind in the house of Baal, 2 Kings 10:26, 27. They were not altars, though altars might have been reared by them, for both are mentioned together in Deuteronomy 12:3. The word is derived from יצב, to set, to fix firmly. The noun is rendered by Parkhurst, a standing pillar. — Ed.