Quote of the Day (Book of Micah, Hailing Bethlehem)

“Now you are walled about with a wall;

    siege is laid against us;

with a rod they strike upon the cheek

    the ruler of Israel.

But you, O Bethlehem Eph′rathah,

    who are little to be 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 days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

    when she who is in travail has brought forth;

then the rest of his brethren shall return

    to the people of Israel.

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

    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

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

    to the ends of the earth.”—Micah 5: 1-4 (Revised Standard Version)

The image accompanying this post is a detail from the oil painting The Census at Bethlehem, by the Northern Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569)