10 Moreover, the Lord spoke again to King Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask for yourself a sign (a token or proof) of the Lord your God [one that will convince you that God has spoken and will keep His word]; ask it either in the depth below or in the height above [let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven]. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 And [Isaiah] said, Hear then, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary and try the patience of men, but will you weary and try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us]. 15 Butter and curds and wild honey shall he eat when he knows [enough] to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know [enough] to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land [Canaan] whose two kings you abhor and of whom you are in sickening dread shall be forsaken [both Ephraim and Syria]. 17 The Lord shall bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim [the ten northern tribes] departed from Judah--even the king of 1 Assyria.
18 And in that day the Lord shall whistle for the fly [the numerous and troublesome foe] that is in the whole extent of the canal country of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And these [enemies like flies and bees] shall come and shall rest all of them in the desolate and rugged valleys and deep ravines and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes and on all the pastures.
20 In the same day [will the people of Judah be utterly stripped of belongings], the Lord will shave with the razor that is hired from the parts beyond the River [Euphrates]--even with the king of Assyria--[that razor will shave] the head and the hair of the legs, and it shall also consume the beard [leaving Judah with open shame and scorn].
21 And [because of the desolation brought on by the invaders] in that day, a man will [be so poor that he will] keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep. 22 And because of the abundance of milk that they will give, he will eat butter and curds, for [only] butter and curds and [wild] honey [no vegetables] shall everyone eat who is left in the land [these products provided from the extensive pastures and the plentiful wild flowers upon which the bees depend].
23 And in that day, in every place where there used to be a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be briers and thorns. 24 With arrows and with bows shall a man come [to hunt] there, because all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that were formerly cultivated with mattock and hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where oxen are let loose to pasture and where sheep tread.