²⁹ “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
^(A)Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
^(B)And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
³⁰ The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
³¹ Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his ^[a]appointed times.”

“Behold, ^(C)waters rise ^(D)out of the north,
And shall be an overflowing flood;
They shall overflow the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who dwell within;
Then the men shall cry,
And all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.
³ At the ^(E)noise of the stamping hooves of his strong horses,
At the rushing of his chariots,
At the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers will not look back for their children,
^[a]Lacking courage,
⁴ Because of the day that comes to plunder all the ^(F)Philistines,
To cut off from ^(G)Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains;
For the Lord shall plunder the Philistines,
^(H)The remnant of the country of ^(I)Caphtor.^[b]
5 (J)Baldness has come upon Gaza,
^(K)Ashkelon is cut off
With the remnant of their valley.
How long will you cut yourself?

⁶ “O you ^(L)sword of the Lord,
How long until you are quiet?
Put yourself up into your scabbard,
Rest and be still!
⁷ How can ^[c]it be quiet,
Seeing the Lord has ^(M)given it a charge
Against Ashkelon and against the seashore?
There He has ^(N)appointed it.”

“For three transgressions of ^(A)Gaza, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they took captive the whole captivity
To deliver them up to Edom.
^7 (B)But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
Which shall devour its palaces.
⁸ I will cut off the inhabitant ^(C)from Ashdod,
And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will ^(D)turn My hand against Ekron,
And ^(E)the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
Says the Lord God.

⁵ Ashkelon shall see it and fear;
Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;
And ^(A)Ekron, for He dried up her expectation.
The king shall perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

⁶ “A^[a] mixed race shall settle ^(B)in Ashdod,
And I will cut off the pride of the ^(C)Philistines.
⁷ I will take away the blood from his mouth,
And the abominations from between his teeth.
But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,
And shall be like a leader in Judah,
And Ekron like a Jebusite.