1. THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST THE PHILISTINES;
2. Behold, waters come up from the north, and shall become a sweeping torrent, and it shall sweep away the land, and its fulness; the city, and them that dwell in it: and men shall cry and all that dwell in the land shall howl,
3. at the sound of his rushing, at the sound of his hoofs, and at the rattling of his chariots, at the noise of his wheels: the fathers turned not to their children because of the weakness of their hands,
4. in the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines: and I will utterly destroy Tyre and Sidon and all the rest of their allies: for the Lord will destroy the remaining inhabitants of the islands.
5. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim.
6. How long wilt thou smite, O sword of the Lord? how long will it be ere thou art quiet? return into thy sheath, rest, and [Gr. be elated] be removed. - How shall it be quiet, whereas the Lord has given it a commission against Ascalon, and against the regions on the sea-coast, to awake against the remaining [Or, cities] countries!
7. CONCERNING IDUMEA, thus saith the Lord; There is no longer wisdom in Thaeman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone,
8. their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, ye that inhabit Daedam, for he has wrought grievously: I brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him.
9. For grape-gatherers are come, who shall not leave thee a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon thy possessions.
10. For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished each by the hand of his brother, my neighbour, and it is impossible
11. for thy fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me.
12. For thus saith the Lord; They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk it; and thou shalt by no means be cleared: [Alex. +for thou shalt surely drink it]
13. for by myself I have sworn, saith the Lord, that thou shalt be in the midst of her an impassable land, and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be desert for ever.
14. I have heard a report from the lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations, saying, Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise ye up to war.
15. I have made thee small among the nations, utterly contemptible among men.
16. Thine [Lit. sport] insolence has risen up against thee, the fierceness of thine heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high: thence will I bring thee down.
17. And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it.
18. As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha and they that sojourned in her, saith the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there.
19. Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of Jordan to the place of [See Jer 24:27] Ætham: for I will speedily drive them from it, and do ye set the young men against her: for who is like me? and who will withstand me? and who is this shepherd, who shall confront me?
20. Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he has framed against Idumea; and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Thaeman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them.
21. For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard.
22. Behold, he shall look upon her as an eagle, and spread forth his wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Idumea shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.