1 The Word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.

2 So says the LORD: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land and all its fullness; the city and those who dwell in it. And the men shall cry, and all the people of the land shall howl.

3 At the noise of the stamping of the hooves of his strong [horses], at the rushing of his chariots, the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their sons because of feebleness of hands;

4 because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines [and] to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every survivor who helps. For the LORD will plunder the Philistines, the rest of the country of Caphtor.

5 Baldness has come on Gaza. Ashkelon is cut off [with] the rest of their valley. How long will you cut yourself?

6 O sword of the LORD, how long [will it be] before you are quiet? Put yourself into your sheath; rest and be still.

7 How can it be quiet, since the LORD has given it a command? He has set it there against Ashkelon, and against the seashore.