Chapter 47[a]
Against the Philistines. 1 This is the word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. 2 Thus says the Lord:
Behold how the waters are rising from the north;
they will become an everlasting torrent.
They shall flood the land and all that is in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
People will cry out for help,
and all the inhabitants of the land will wail.
3 On hearing the thundering hooves of the stallions,
the noise of the chariots and their rumbling wheels,
fathers do not turn to help their children;
their hands fall limp,
4 [b]because the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines,
and to cut off Tyre and Sidon
from any allies who could support them.
The Lord is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5 Baldness has afflicted Gaza;
Ashkelon has been silenced.
O remnant of the Philistine strength,
how long will you continue to gash yourselves?
6 Ah, sword of the Lord,
how long will it be before you rest?
Return back to your scabbard.
Cease and be still.
7 But how can you be at rest
when the Lord has given you an order,
when he has commanded you to subdue
Ashkelon and the seacoast?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 47:1 The king of Babylon was God’s sword in punishing Judah and all the people. Here he was, at work against the Philistines, the terrible enemies of former times. The song is undoubtedly later than 605 B.C.
- Jeremiah 47:4 Caphtor: Crete, from which, it seems, the Philistines came. The cuts (v. 5) were signs of mourning.