1 THE word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gaza.

2 Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am bringing young soldiers from the north, and they shall become like an overflowing flood, and they shall overflow the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell in it; then the men shall cry for help, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.

3 Because of the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of the horses of his mighty men and the rushing of his chariots and the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for the feebleness of their hands;

4 Behold, the day has come to plunder all the Philistines and to destroy Tyre and Sidon and every helper that remains; for the LORD will smite the Philistines, the remnant of the islands of Caphtor.

5 Slaughter has reached to Gaza, Ashkalon is destroyed, and all that is left of their habitation is taken.

6 O, sword of the LORD, how long will it be till you be quiet and cease from destruction? put up yourself into your scabbard, rest and be still.

7 How can it be quiet, when the LORD has given it a charge against Ashkalon and against the coastal cities? For against these places he has decreed punishment.