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The Lord says,

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be
    an important town in the nation of Judah.
But out of you will come for me
    a ruler over Israel.
His family line goes back
    to the early years of your nation.
It goes all the way back
    to days of long ago.”

The Lord will hand over his people to their enemies.
    That will last until the pregnant woman bears her promised son.
Then the rest of his relatives in Judah
    will return to their land.

That promised son will stand firm
    and be a shepherd for his flock.
The Lord will give him the strength to do it.
    The Lord his God will give him
    the authority to rule.
His people will live safely.
    His greatness will reach
    from one end of the earth to the other.

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“But you, Bethlehem(A) Ephrathah,(B)
    though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler(C) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(D)
    from ancient times.”(E)

Therefore Israel will be abandoned(F)
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

He will stand and shepherd his flock(G)
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness(H)
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 5:2 Or rulers