Isaiah 7:15-25
Expanded Bible
15 He will be eating milk curds and honey [C probably because the crops have been destroyed in the invasion] ·when he learns [by the time he learns; or so that he will learn] to reject what is evil and to choose what is good [C probably ages twelve or thirteen, when he would be accountable to the law; the destruction of Israel would occur in twelve or thirteen years: 722 bc]. 16 ·But [or For] before the child ·learns [knows] to choose good and reject evil, the lands of the two kings you fear [C Israel and Aram/Syria] will be ·empty [desolate; laid waste]. 17 The Lord will bring ·troubled times to [L upon] you, your people, and to ·the people of your father’s family [L your father’s house; C David’s dynasty]. ·They will be worse than […days unlike] anything that has happened since Israel separated from Judah [C the civil war dividing Israel into north (Israel) and south (Judah) after David’s son Solomon died, two centuries earlier]. ·The Lord will bring the king of Assyria to fight against you [L …—the king of Assyria].
18 “·At that time [L In that day] the Lord will whistle for ·the Egyptians, and they will come like flies from Egypt’s faraway streams [L the fly that is at the farthest streams of Egypt]. ·He will call for the Assyrians, and they will come like bees [L … and for bees from the land of Assyria; C Israel and Judah were caught in a tug-of-war between these two great powers]. 19 ·These enemies will camp [L They will rest/settle] in the deep ravines and in the ·cliffs [L crevices/clefts of the rocks], by the thornbushes and ·watering holes [or pastures]. 20 [In that day] The Lord will ·hire Assyria and use it like a razor to punish Judah [L shave with a razor hired beyond the River (Euphrates)—the king of Assyria]. ·It will be as if the Lord is shaving the hair from Judah’s head and body and beard [L …—the head, the hair of the feet and cutting away the beard; C “hair of the feet” is likely a euphemism for pubic hair; such shaving was an act of humiliation].
21 “·At that time [L In that day] a person will be ·able to keep alive only [fortunate to have left] ·one young cow [a heifer] and two sheep. 22 ·There will be only enough milk for that person to eat milk curds [or Because of the abundance of milk, he will have curds to eat]. All who remain in the land will ·go back to eating just [or have enough to eat from] milk curds and honey. 23 [In that day] In every ·vineyard [L place] where there were a thousand grapevines worth ·twenty-five pounds [L a thousand pieces] of silver, there will be only ·weeds [briers] and thorns. 24 People will ·come there only to hunt [L come] with bow and arrow, since the land will be covered with nothing but ·weeds [briers] and thorns [C with no crops, the land will be useful only for hunting]. 25 People once ·worked and grew food on [L hoed with a hoe] these hills, but at that time people will not go there, ·because the land will be filled with [L for fear of] ·weeds [briers] and thorns. ·Only sheep and cattle will go to those places [L It will become a pasture for cattle/oxen and a trampling place for sheep].”
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