29 iRejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,
that the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,
and its fruit will be a jflying fiery serpent.
30 And the firstborn of the poor will graze,
and the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
and your remnant it will slay.
31 Wail, O gate; cry out, O city;
melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes out of the north,
and there is no straggler in his ranks.
Judgment on the Philistines
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet econcerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.
2 “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, fwaters are rising out of the north,
and shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers look not back to their children,
so feeble are their hands,
4 because of the day that is coming to destroy
all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
5 gBaldness has come upon Gaza;
Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
how long will you hgash yourselves?
6 Ah, isword of the Lord!
How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
rest and be still!
7 How can it1 be quiet
when the Lord has given it a charge?
Against Ashkelon and against the seashore
he has appointed it.”
Prophecy Against Philistia
15 “Thus says the Lord God: Because the mPhilistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in nnever-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
6 oThus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of pGaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
says the Lord God.
4 xFor yGaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the zCherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you auntil no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
with meadows1 for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the bremnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and crestore their fortunes.
