Jeremiah 47
47
The LORD's Message about Philistia
1 #
Is 14.29–31; Ezek 25.15–17; Joel 3.4–8; Amos 1.6–8; Zeph 2.4–7; Zech 9.5–7 Before the king of Egypt attacked Gaza, the LORD spoke to me about Philistia. 2He said:
“Look! Waters are rising in the north
and will rush like a river in flood.
They will cover the land and everything on it,
cities and the people who live there.
People will call out for help;
everyone on earth will cry bitterly.
3They will hear the hoof beats of horses,
the clatter of chariots,
the rumble of wheels.
Parents will not turn back for their children;
their hands will hang limp at their sides.
4The time has come to destroy Philistia,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
all the help that remains.
I, the LORD, will destroy the Philistines,
all who came from the shores of Crete.
5Great sorrow has come to the people of Gaza,
and Ashkelon's people are silent.
How long will the rest of Philistia mourn?
6You cry out, ‘Sword of the LORD!
How long will you go on slashing?
Go back to your scabbard,
stay there and rest!’
7But how can it rest,
when I have given it work to do?
I have commanded it to attack Ashkelon
and the people who live on the coast.”
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Jeremiah 47: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 47
47
Against the Philistines. 1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:#Ez 25:15–16; Zep 2:4.
2Thus says the Lord:
#Nebuchadnezzar’s military campaign against Ashkelon in 604 B.C. may provide some historical background for this poem. See: waters are rising from the north,
to become a torrent in flood;
They shall flood the land and all it contains,
the cities and their inhabitants.
People will howl and wail,
every inhabitant of the land.
3At the noise of the pounding hooves of his steeds,
the clanking chariots, the rumbling wheels,
Parents do not turn back for their children;
their hands hang helpless,
4Because of the day that is coming
to destroy all the Philistines
And cut off from Tyre and Sidon#Tyre and Sidon: Phoenician seaports allied commercially with the Philistines and often rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar; cf. 27:1–4. After the capture of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar carried out a partially successful thirteen-year siege of Tyre. Caphtor: Crete and other Aegean islands, points of origin for the Philistines and other sea peoples; cf. Am 9:7.
the last of their allies.
Yes, the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.#Jer 25:22; Ez 25:16–17; Am 1:8; 9:7.
5Baldness is visited upon Gaza,#Am 1:7.
Ashkelon is reduced to silence;
Ashdod, remnant of their strength,
how long will you gash yourself?#Baldness…gash yourself: close-cropped hair, silence, and ritual slashing of the body express mourning and grief and here represent the mourner’s awareness that chaos has overcome order (cf. 41:5).
6Ah! Sword of the Lord!
When will you find rest?
Return to your scabbard;
stop, be still!
7How can it find rest
when the Lord has commanded it?
Against Ashkelon and the seacoast,
there he has appointed it.#Zep 2:5–6.
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