Isa 7:16-25 | ESV | STEP | For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good , the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted .

r[See ver. 23 above]

Isaiah 7:16-25

16 ^aFor before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^bdeserted. 17 ^cThe 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 ^dEphraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

18 In that day the Lord will ^ewhistle 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 ^fin the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures. ^{▼▼Or watering holes, or brambles}

20 In that day ^hthe Lord will ⁱshave with a razor that is ^jhired beyond ^kthe River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

21 ^lIn 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 ^mcurds and honey.

23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of silver, will become ^obriers and thorns. 24 ^pWith bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 ^qAnd as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^rof briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.