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47 The Philistines

This is God’s message to Jeremiah concerning the Philistines of Gaza, before the city was captured[a] by the Egyptian army:

The Lord says: A flood is coming from the north to overflow the land of the Philistines; it will destroy their cities and everything in them. Strong men will scream in terror, and all the land will weep. Hear the clattering hoofs and rumbling wheels as the chariots go rushing by; fathers flee without a backward glance at their helpless children, for the time has come when all the Philistines and their allies from Tyre and Sidon will be destroyed. For the Lord is destroying the Philistines, those colonists from Caphtor. The cities of Gaza and Ashkelon will be razed to the ground and lie in ruins. O descendants of the Anakim, how you will lament and mourn!

O sword of the Lord, when will you be at rest again? Go back into your scabbard; rest and be still! But how can it be still when the Lord has sent it on an errand? For the city of Ashkelon and those living along the sea must be destroyed.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 47:1 before the city was captured. In 609 B.C., the year King Josiah died.

A Message About the Philistines

47 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines(A) before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:(B)

This is what the Lord says:

“See how the waters are rising in the north;(C)
    they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
    the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
    all who dwell in the land will wail(D)
at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots(E)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.(F)
For the day has come
    to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
    who could help Tyre(G) and Sidon.(H)
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,(I)
    the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.[a](J)
Gaza will shave(K) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon(L) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut(M) yourselves?

“‘Alas, sword(N) of the Lord,
    how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
    cease and be still.’(O)
But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”(P)

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 47:4 That is, Crete

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

Thus saith the Lord; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.

At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.

Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.

How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.