¹ The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

² 'Yahweh says this: Look, the waters are rising from the north to become an overwhelming flood, overwhelming the country and all in it, the town and its inhabitants! People cry for help, and there is wailing from all the country's inhabitants

³ at the thunder of his chargers' hoofs, the crash of his chariots, the grinding of his wheels. Fathers forget about their children, their hands fall limp

⁴ because the day has come for all the Philistines to be destroyed, for Tyre and Sidon to be stripped to the last of their allies. Yes, Yahweh is destroying the Philistines, the remnant from the Isle of Caphtor.

⁵ Baldness has befallen Gaza, Ashkelon has been reduced to silence. You who remain in the valley, how long will you gash yourselves?

⁶ Oh, sword of Yahweh, how long before you rest? Back into your scabbard, stop, keep still!

⁷ Yet how can it rest when Yahweh has given it an order, Ashkelon and the sea coast, the targets assigned to it?