17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah:(A) He will bring the king of Assyria.”(B)

18 On that day(C)
the Lord will whistle(D) to flies
at the farthest streams of the Nile
and to bees in the land of Assyria.
19 All of them will come and settle
in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks,(E)
in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.

20 On that day the Lord will use a razor(F) hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria(G)—to shave the hair on your heads, the hair on your legs, and even your beards.

21 On that day
a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
22 and from the abundant milk they give
he will eat curds,
for every survivor in the land will eat curds and honey.(H)

23 And on that day
every place where there were a thousand vines,
worth a thousand pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.(I)
24 A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
25 You will not go to all the hills
that were once tilled with a hoe,
for fear of the thorns and briers.
Those hills will be places for oxen to graze
and for sheep to trample.

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17 “Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

18 In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees. 19 They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. 20 In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River[a]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.[b]

21 In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. 22 Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. 23 In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver,[c] will become patches of briers and thorns. 24 The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. 25 No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:20a Hebrew the river.
  2. 7:20b Hebrew shave off the head, the hair of the legs, and the beard.
  3. 7:23 Hebrew 1,000 [shekels] of silver, about 25 pounds or 11.4 kilograms in weight.