Judgment on the Philistines// Zephaniah 2:4–7
1This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza. 2This is what Yahweh says:
“See how the waters are rising from the north
and becoming an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and its fullness,
the cities and their inhabitants.
The people will cry out,
and all who dwell in the land will wail
3at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions,
the rumbling of chariots,
and the clatter of their wheels.
The fathers will not turn back for their sons;
their hands will hang limp.
4For the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every remaining ally.
Indeed, Yahweh is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning;
Ashkelon will be silenced.
O remnant of their valley,
how long will you gash yourself?
- JER 47:5[PROPHECY]Gaza would shave its head in mourning and Ashkelon would be silenced → HISTORY: Nebuchadnezzar took Ashkelon and left it in ruins, 604 BC. Found in the Babylonian Chronicle and the burn layer at Ashkelon.
6‘Alas, O sword of Yahweh,
how long until you rest?
Return to your sheath;
cease and be still!’
7How can it rest
when Yahweh has commanded it?
He has appointed it against Ashkelon
and the shore of its coastland.”