Conquest by Assyria

¹⁷ “The Lord will bring to you, to your people, and to your ancestor’s house such a time^[a] as has never been since Ephraim broke away from Judah—the king of Assyria will come.^[b]

¹⁸ “At that time,^[c] the Lord will call^[d] for flies that will come from far away—from the headwaters of Egypt’s rivers—and for bees that are in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ They will all come and settle in the steep ravines, in the rocky crevices, in all the thorn bushes, and in all the pastures.^{[e] 20} At that time,^[f] the Lord will hire a barber^[g] to come^[h] from beyond the Euphrates^[i] River—that is, the king of Assyria—and he will shave your heads, your leg^[j] hair, and your beards, too.

²¹ “At that time,^[k] a man will keep alive a heifer and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will have cheese^[l] to eat, since whoever remains in the land will be eating cheese^[m] and honey.

²³ “At that time,^[n] every place where once there were a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels^[o] of silver, only briars and thorns will grow.

²⁴ “People will come there armed with bows^[p] and arrows, because the entire land will be nothing but briers and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills that used to be cultivated with a hoe, you won’t go there, because you’ll fear iron^[q] briars and thorns. Nevertheless, those hills^[r] will be reserved as a pasture where cattle will feed and where sheep will graze.”^[s]