Add parallel Print Page Options

29 (A) Philistines, don't be happy
    just because the rod
that punished you
    is broken.
That rod will become
a poisonous snake, and then
    a flying fiery dragon.

30 The poor and needy will find
pastures for their sheep
    and will live in safety.
But I will starve some of you,
    and others will be killed.

31 Cry and weep in the gates
of your towns,
    you Philistines!
Smoke blows in from the north,[a]
    and every soldier is ready.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 14.31 north: The Assyrian and Babylonian attacks came from the north.

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(A)
    that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(B)
    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(C)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy(D) will lie down in safety.(E)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(F)
    it will slay(G) your survivors.(H)

31 Wail,(I) you gate!(J) Howl, you city!
    Melt away, all you Philistines!(K)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(L)
    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(M)

Read full chapter

Judgment on Philistia

15 (A) The Lord God said, “The cruel Philistines have taken revenge on their enemies over and over and have tried to destroy them. 16 Now it's my turn to treat the Philistines as my enemies and to kill everyone[a] living in their towns along the seacoast. 17 In my fierce anger, I will take revenge on them. And when I punish them, they will know that I am the Lord.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 25.16 kill everyone: The Hebrew text also has the name “Cherethites,” which was a group of people that lived just southeast of Philistia, and was often identified with the Philistines.

A Prophecy Against Philistia

15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because the Philistines(A) acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice(B) in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, 16 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines,(C) and I will wipe out the Kerethites(D) and destroy those remaining along the coast.(E) 17 I will carry out great vengeance(F) on them and punish(G) them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord,(H) when I take vengeance on them.(I)’”

Read full chapter

(A) You people of Tyre and Sidon[a] and you Philistines, why are you doing this? Are you trying to get even with me? I'll strike back before you know what's happened. You've taken my prized possessions, including my silver and gold, and carried them off to your temples.[b] You have dragged the people of Judah and Jerusalem from their land and sold them to the Greeks.

But I'll make the people of Judah determined to come home, and what happened to them will happen to you. I'll hand over your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans,[c] who live far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 3.4 Tyre and Sidon: Two Phoenician coastal cities.
  2. 3.5 temples: Or “palaces.”
  3. 3.8 Sabeans: The people of Seba, a region in southwest Arabia.

“Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon(A) and all you regions of Philistia?(B) Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.(C) For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.[a](D) You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,(E) that you might send them far from their homeland.

“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them,(F) and I will return(G) on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons(H) and daughters to the people of Judah,(I) and they will sell them to the Sabeans,(J) a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.(K)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Joel 3:5 Or palaces

Judgment on Philistia

(A) The Lord said:

I will punish Philistia[a]
for countless crimes,
    and I won't change my mind.
They dragged off my people[b]
    from town after town
to sell them as slaves
    to the Edomites.

That's why I will burn down
the walls and fortresses
    of the city of Gaza.
I will destroy the king[c] of Ashdod
    and the ruler of Ashkelon.
I will strike down Ekron,[d]
and that will be the end
    of the Philistines.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1.6 Philistia: The Hebrew text has “Gaza,” one of the main Philistine cities.
  2. 1.6 my people: The people of Israel.
  3. 1.8 king: Or “people.”
  4. 1.8 Ashdod … Ashkelon … Ekron: Philistine cities.

This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Gaza,(A)
    even for four, I will not relent.(B)
Because she took captive whole communities
    and sold them to Edom,(C)
I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
    that will consume her fortresses.
I will destroy the king[a] of Ashdod(D)
    and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand(E) against Ekron,
    till the last of the Philistines(F) are dead,”(G)
says the Sovereign Lord.(H)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:8 Or inhabitants

Judgment on Philistia

(A) Gaza and Ashkelon
will be deserted
    and left in ruins.
Ashdod will be emptied
in broad daylight,
    and Ekron[a] uprooted.
To you people of Philistia[b]
who live along the coast,
    the Lord has this to say:
“I am now your enemy,
    and I'll wipe you out!”

Your seacoast will be changed
into pastureland
    and sheep pens.[c]
The Lord God hasn't forgotten
those survivors in Judah,
    and he will help them—
his people will take your land
    to use for pasture.
And when evening comes,
they will rest
    in houses at Ashkelon.[d]

Judgment on Moab and Ammon

*

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2.4 Gaza … Ekron: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath (not mentioned because it was already destroyed) were the five major Philistine towns.
  2. 2.5 people of Philistia: The Hebrew text also mentions “Canaan” and “Cherethites,” which are other ways of referring to the Philistines.
  3. 2.6 pens: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 6.
  4. 2.7 Ashkelon: A Philistine town; see the note at 2.4.

Philistia

Gaza(A) will be abandoned
    and Ashkelon(B) left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
    and Ekron uprooted.
Woe to you who live by the sea,
    you Kerethite(C) people;
the word of the Lord is against you,(D)
    Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you,
    and none will be left.”(E)
The land by the sea will become pastures
    having wells for shepherds
    and pens for flocks.(F)
That land will belong
    to the remnant(G) of the people of Judah;
    there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down
    in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them;
    he will restore their fortunes.[a](H)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 2:7 Or will bring back their captives

(A) Both Ashkelon and Gaza
will tremble with fear;
    Ekron will lose all hope.
Gaza's king will be killed,
and Ashkelon emptied
    of its people.
A mob of half-breeds
    will settle in Ashdod,[a]
and the Lord himself
    will rob Philistia of pride.

No longer will the Philistines
eat meat with blood in it
    or any unclean food.[b]
They will become part
of the people of our God
    from the tribe of Judah.
And God will accept
the people of Ekron,
    as he did the Jebusites.[c]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9.5,6 Ashkelon and Gaza … Ekron … Ashdod: Philistine cities.
  2. 9.7 eat … food: The Philistines will become part of Judah and no longer eat meat with blood in it (see Genesis 9.4) or any other forbidden foods (see Leviticus 11.1-23; Deuteronomy 14.3-21).
  3. 9.7 Jebusites: The original people of Canaan, who lived in Jerusalem before it was captured by David (see 2 Samuel 5.6-10) and were later accepted as part of Israel.

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.
A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end(B) to the pride of the Philistines.
I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God(C)
    and become a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.(D)

Read full chapter