13 Or “for” (, , , ).
14 There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).
15 Or “a desolate place.”
16 Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.” The reference to noon may suggest a sudden, quick defeat (see Jer 6:4; 15:8).
17 Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).
18 Heb “Kerethites,” a people settled alongside the Philistines in the coastal areas of southern Palestine (cf. 1 Sam 30:14; Ezek 25:16). They originally came from the island of Crete.
19 Heb “Woe, inhabitants of the coast of the sea, nation of Kerethites.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “ah, woe”), is used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5). By using it here the prophet mourns in advance the downfall of the Philistines, thereby emphasizing the certainty of their demise (“as good as dead”). Some argue the word does not have its earlier connotation here and is simply an attention-getting interjection, equivalent to “Hey!”
20 Heb “the word of the Lord is against you.”
21 Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”
22 The here supplies the phrase “where the Kerethites dwell” (“Kerethites” is translated in v. 5 as “the people who came from Crete”) as an interpretive gloss, but this phrase is not in the . The likewise reads “the coastland of the Cretans,” supplying “Cretans” here.
23 The Hebrew phrase here is נְוֹת כְּרֹת (névot kérot). The first word is probably a plural form of נָוָה (navah, “pasture”). The meaning of the second word is unclear. It may be a synonym of the preceding word (cf. “pastures, meadows for shepherds”); there is a word כַּר (kar, “pasture”) in biblical Hebrew, but elsewhere it forms its plural with a masculine ending. Some have suggested the meaning “wells” or “caves” used as shelters (cf. “shepherds’ huts”); in this case, one might translate, “The seacoast will be used for pasturelands; for shepherds’ wells/caves.”
24 Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”
25 Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”
26 Heb “on them,” but the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is unclear. It may refer back to the “pasture lands,” though that noun is feminine. It is preferable to emend the text from עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem) to עַל־הַיָּם (’al-hayyam, “by the sea”) an emendation that assumes a misdivision and transposition of letters in the (cf. “They shall pasture their flocks by the sea”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (), 192.
27 The referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) is unclear. It may refer (1) to the shepherds (in which case the first verb should be translated, “pasture their sheep,” cf. ), or (2) to the Judahites occupying the area, who are being compared to sheep (cf. , “there they will find pasture”).
28 Or “will care for them.”
29 Traditionally, “restore their captivity,” i.e., bring back their captives, but it is more likely the expression means “restore their fortunes” in a more general sense (cf. , , , ).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

For Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.

And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,

with meadows for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

The seacoast shall become the possession

of the remnant 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 restore their fortunes.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Gaza will be abandoned

and Ashkelon left in ruins.

At midday Ashdod will be emptied

and Ekron uprooted.

Woe to you who live by the sea,

you Kerethite people;

the word of the Lord is against you,

Canaan, land of the Philistines.

He says, “I will destroy you,

and none will be left.”

The land by the sea will become pastures

having wells for shepherds

and pens for flocks.

That land will belong

to the remnant of the people of Judah;

there they will find pasture.

In the evening they will lie down

in the houses of Ashkelon.

The Lord their God will care for them;

he will restore their fortunes.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

For Gaza will be abandoned,

and Ashkelon will become a ruin.

Ashdod will be driven out at noon,

and Ekron will be uprooted.

Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,

nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you,

Canaan, land of the Philistines:

I will destroy you until there is no one left.

The seacoast will become pasturelands

with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep.

The coastland will belong

to the remnant of the house of Judah;

they will find pasture there.

They will lie down in the evening

among the houses of Ashkelon,

for the Lord their God will return to them

and restore their fortunes.

NLTNew Living Translation

Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned,

Ashdod and Ekron torn down.

And what sorrow awaits you Philistines

who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan,

for this judgment is against you, too!

The Lord will destroy you

until not one of you is left.

The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture,

a place of shepherd camps

and enclosures for sheep and goats.

The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.

They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.

For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness

and restore their prosperity again.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

For Gaza will be abandoned,

and Ashkelon as a desolation.

As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,

people of the Kerethites!

The word of Yahweh is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines.

I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant.

And you, O region of the sea, shall become

pastures and meadows for shepherds

and sheep pens for the flocks.

And it shall become a region

for the remnant of the house of Judah;

upon them they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down in the evening.

For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,

and he will restore their fortunes.

KJV 1900King James Version

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation:

They shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you;

O Canaan, the land of the Philistines,

I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah;

They shall feed thereupon:

In the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening:

For the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.

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