¹⁰ Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;^(A)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem^(B) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

¹¹ But now many nations
    are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
    let our eyes gloat^(C) over Zion!”
¹² But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,^(D)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³ “Rise and thresh,^(E) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”^(F)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,^(G)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

² “But you, Bethlehem^(I) Ephrathah,^(J)
    though you are small among the clans^[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler^(K) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,^(L)
    from ancient times.”^(M)

³ Therefore Israel will be abandoned^(N)
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock^(O)
    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^(P)
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

⁵ And he will be our peace^(Q)
    when the Assyrians invade^(R) our land
    and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
    even eight commanders,^(S)