Villager Guards

Entrust the duty of keeping villages safe from pillagers to Villager Guards. By default, they spawn in every village to provide support and protection for those in need.

Credits: Daniel_v4k

• To create a new guard, find an unemployed villager (a villager without a profession), then Crouch and give them a Sword. 
• To hire a guard for your own protection, simply give them an Emerald.

I've found that they are most useful when they work in pairs: a close-combat guard armed with a sword and a ranged one armed with a crossbow. They're not nearly as strong as an Iron Golem, but they make up for it in numbers.