^17 (A)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(B)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(C)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(D)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[a]

²⁰ In that day ^(E)the Lord will ^(F)shave with a razor that is ^(G)hired beyond ^(H)the River^[b]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (I)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(J)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[c] of silver, will become ^(K)briers and thorns. ^24 (L)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (M)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(N)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.