¹⁷ Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days which have never come since the day that ^(A)Ephraim separated from Judah—the ^(B)king of Assyria!”

Trials to Come for Judah

¹⁸ And it will be in that day, that Yahweh will ^(C)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[a](D)remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and rest upon the steep ^[b]ravines, on the ^(E)crevices of the cliffs, ^(F)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the ^[c]watering places.

²⁰ In that day, the Lord will ^(G)shave with a ^(H)razor—one ^(I)hired from regions beyond ^(J)the ^[d]River (that is, the king of Assyria)—the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

²¹ And it will be in that day, that a man may keep alive a ^(K)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced, he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat ^(L)curds and honey.

²³ And it will be in that day, ^(M)that every place where there used to be one thousand vines, valued at ^[e]one thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(N)briars and thorns. ²⁴ People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^[f](O)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.