18 On that days

the Lord will whistlet 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,u

in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.

20 On that day the Lord will use a razorv hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyriaw—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.x

23 And on that day

every place where there were a thousand vines,

worth a thousand pieces of silver,

will become thorns and briers.y

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.

THE COMING ASSYRIAN INVASION

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchmentA and write on it with an ordinary pen:B,a Maher-shalal-hash-baz.C 2 I have appointedD trustworthy witnesses—the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”b

3 I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 for before the boy knows how to call ‘Father,’ or ‘Mother,’c the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”d

5 The Lord spoke to me again:

6 Because these people rejected

the slowly flowing water of Shiloah

and rejoiced withE Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,e

7 the Lord will certainly bring against them

the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River—

the king of Assyria and all his glory.

It will overflow its channels

and spill over all its banks.

8 It will pour into Judah,

flood over it, and sweep through,

reaching up to the neck;f

and its flooded banksF

will fill your entire land, Immanuel!g