Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 5

[a]But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah(A)
    least among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient times.
Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
    when she who is to give birth has borne,[b]
Then the rest of his kindred shall return
    to the children of Israel.(B)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:1–6 Salvation will come through a “messiah,” an anointed ruler. The Book of Micah shares with Isaiah the expectation that God will deliver Israel through a king in the line of David. Bethlehem-Ephrathah is the home of the Davidic line.
  2. 5:2 These words are sometimes understood as a reference to Isaiah’s Emmanuel oracle, given some thirty years earlier (Is 7:14). The Gospel of Matthew reports that the chief priests and scribes cite this passage as the ancient promise of a messiah in the line of David to be born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:5–6).

A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

[a]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
    for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
    on the cheek(A) with a rod.

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

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
  2. Micah 5:2 Or rulers