Against the Philistines
1 This is Yahweh’s word that came to the prophet Jeremiah con cern ing the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.
2 Thus says Yahweh:
“Look, waters rise from the north;
soon they will become a raging flood
overflowing the land and all it contains,
the towns and their inhabitants.
All dwellers in the land will wail
3 at the sound of the hooves of stamping steeds,
the rattle of chariots, the rumbling of wheels.
Parents forget their children,
as their hands fall limp.
4 The day of ruin has come upon the Philistines;
Tyre and Sidon, the last of their allies, are cut off from them.
Yahweh is set to destroy the Philis tines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5 Gaza is shaved bald,
Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant in the valley,
how long will you gash yourselves?
6 O sword of Yahweh,
how long before you rest?
Return to your scabbard;
stop and keep still!
7 But how can it rest,
when it is Yahweh who commanded it
to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast?”