gaza

⁴and pitching their tents among them, they laid waste to all that was planted, as far as the entrance to Gaza. And they left behind nothing at all to sustain life in Israel, neither sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys.

¹⁹And the borders of Canaan went, as one travels, from Sidon to Gerar, even to Gaza, until one enters Sodom and Gomorrah, and from Admah and Zeboiim, even to Lesa.

²⁰and the entire populace in general: all the kings of the land of the south, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,

²⁸Now their possessions and habitations were: Bethel with her daughters, and toward the east, Naaran, and toward the western region, Gezer and her daughters, as well as Shechem with her daughters, as far as Ayyah with her daughters;

¹⁷Now these are the gold cysts, which the Philistines repaid to the Lord for transgression: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one.

²²He did not leave any from the stock of the Anakim in the land of the sons of Israel, except the cities of Gaza, and Gath, and Ashdod, which alone were left behind.

³from the muddy river, which irrigates Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron toward the north, the land of Canaan, which is divided among the rulers of Philistia: the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gathites, and the Ekronites;

⁴¹from Kadesh-barnea, as far as Gaza, with all the land of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.

⁸He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza, and in all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

²³Likewise the Hevites, who were living in small villages as far as Gaza, were expelled by the Cappadocians, who went forth from Cappadocia, and they wiped them out and lived in their place.

¹The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, the prophet, against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. ²Thus says the Lord: “Behold, waters will rise up from the north, and they will be like an inundating torrent, and they will cover the land and its plenitude, the city and its inhabitants. The men will cry out, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail, ³before the uproar of a procession of weapons and of his soldiers, before the commotion of his four-horse chariots and the multitude of his wheels. The fathers have not looked back for the sons, because of feebleness of hands, ⁴because of the arrival of the day on which all the Philistines will be devastated, and Tyre and Sidon will be destroyed, with all the rest of their helpers. For the Lord has depopulated the Philistines, the remnant of the island of Cappadocia. ⁵Baldness has arrived over Gaza. Ashkelon has been silenced, along with the remnant of their valley. And how long will you continue to be cut down? ⁶O sharp sword of the Lord, how long will you be without rest? Enter your sheath; be refreshed and silenced.

⁶Indeed, he went out and fought against the Philistines. And he destroyed the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Also, he built towns in Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

¹The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw about Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. ²And he said: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will utter his voice. And the beautiful pastures have mourned, and the top of Carmel has become dry. ³Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Damascus, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have threshed Gilead into iron wagons. ⁴And I will send fire onto the house of Hazael, and it will devour the houses of Ben-hadad. ⁵And I will shatter the crowbar of Damascus, and I will destroy the inhabitants of the camp of the idol and the holder of the scepter of the house of pleasure; and the people of Syria will be transferred to Cyrene, says the Lord. ⁶Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Gaza, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have carried out an excellent captivity, so as to enclose them in Idumea.

¹Assemble, be gathered together, O people not worthy to be loved. ²Until the decree settles accounts, the day like dust is passing away, before which the wrath of the fury of the Lord may overcome you, before which the day of the anger of the Lord may overcome you. ³Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth; you who have been working are his judgment. Seek the just, seek the meek. So then, in some way, you might be hidden in the day of the fury of the Lord. ⁴For Gaza will be destroyed, and Ashkelon will be in the desert; they will expel Ashdod at midday, and Ekron will be eradicated. ⁵Woe to you who inhabit the coast of the sea, you people of perdition. The word of the Lord is over you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines, and I will disperse you, so that not one inhabitant will be left. ⁶And the coastline of the sea will be a resting place for shepherds and a fence line for cattle.

⁶Act manfully and be strengthened. Do not be afraid, and do not dread at the sight of them. For the Lord your God himself is your commander, and he will neither dismiss nor abandon you.”