[17] The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.” [18] In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. [19] They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. [20] In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your heads and private parts, and to cut off your beards also. [21] In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats. [22] And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. [23] In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. [24] Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. [25] As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
