¹ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gaza.

² Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is in it; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.

³ At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands:

⁴ Because of the day that cometh to lay waste all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will lay waste the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.

⁵ Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

⁶ O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.

⁷ How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

¹ The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

² I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.

³ I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

⁴ I will also stretch out my hand upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

⁵ And them that worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

⁶ And them that have turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.

⁷ Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath invited his guests.

⁸ And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.

⁹ In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshhold, who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, and a howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

¹¹ Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

¹² And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

¹³ Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine of them.

¹⁴ The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

¹⁵ That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

¹⁶ A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.

¹⁷ And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.