Jeremiah 47

A Message to the Philistines

47Before the king of Egypt attacked the city of Gaza, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the Philistine people.

²This is what the Lord says:

“See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters.

They will become like an overflowing stream

and will cover the whole country like a flood,

even the towns and the people living in them.

Everyone living in that country

will cry for help;

the people will cry painfully.

³They will hear the sound of the running horses

and the noisy chariots

and the rumbling chariot wheels.

Parents will not help their children to safety,

because they will be too weak to help.

⁴The time has come

to destroy all the Philistines.

It is time to destroy all who are left alive

who could help the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

The Lord will soon destroy the Philistines,

those left alive from the island of Crete.

⁵The people from the city of Gaza will be sad and shave their heads.

The people from the city of Ashkelon will be made silent.

Those left alive from the valley,

how long will you cut yourselves? ⁿ

⁶“You cry, ‘Sword of the Lord,

how long will you keep fighting?

Return to your holder.

Stop and be still.’

⁷But how can his sword rest

when the Lord has given it a command?

He has ordered it

to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast.”