³ Look! The Lord is coming out from his place;
        he will go down and tread on the shrines of the earth.
⁴ Then the mountains will melt under him;
        the valleys will split apart,
            like wax yielding to the fire,
            like waters poured down a slope.
⁵ All this is for the crime of Jacob
        and the sins of the house of Israel.
        Who is responsible for the crime of Jacob?^[a]
                Isn’t it Samaria?
            Who is responsible for^[b] the shrines of Judah?
                Isn’t it Jerusalem?

² As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces,
        one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.
    His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.
³ Therefore, he will give them up
        until the time when she who is in labor gives birth.
        The rest of his kin will return to the people of Israel.
⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock^[a] in the strength of the Lord,
        in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
        They will dwell secure,
        because he will surely become great throughout the earth;
⁵         he will become one of peace.^[b]
When Assyria invades our land and treads down our fortresses,
        then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight human princes.

⁶ With what should I approach the Lord
        and bow down before God on high?
Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings,
        with year-old calves?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
        with many torrents of oil?
Should I give my oldest child for my crime;
        the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit?
⁸ He has told you, human one, what is good and
        what the Lord requires from you:
            to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.