⁵ Gaza will shave^(A) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon^(B) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut^(C) yourselves?

⁷ But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^(A)

⁸ I will destroy the king^[a] of Ashdod^(A)
    and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand^(B) against Ekron,
    till the last of the Philistines^(C) are dead,”^(D)
says the Sovereign Lord.^(E)

⁵ Ashkelon^(A) will see it and fear;
    Gaza will writhe in agony,
    and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
    and Ashkelon will be deserted.