1 This is the message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. 2 This is what the Lord says: Look at the waters rising from the north! They will become an overflowing river that sweeps across the country and everything in it, flooding the towns and everyone's homes. The people will cry out for help; everyone who lives in the country will weep, 3 as they hear the sound of stallions charging, the rattling of chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Fathers won't go back to help their sons—they have no strength because they're terrified.

4 The day has arrived when all the Philistines will be destroyed, when Tyre and Sidon will have no more allies to help them. The Lord is going to destroy the Philistines, those who are left from the island of Crete. 5 The people of Gaza will shave their heads;* the town of Ashkelon lies in ruins. You who are left on the coastal plain, how long will you go on cutting yourself?

6 Oh sword of the Lord, when are you going to stop killing? Go back in your sheath. Stop killing and stay there! 7 But how can the sword stop killing when the Lord has given it orders to attack Ashkelon and its coastlands?