“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)

⁷ I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
    that will consume her fortresses.
⁸ I will destroy the king^[a] of Ashdod^(A)
    and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand^(B) against Ekron,
    till the last of the Philistines^(C) are dead,”^(D)
says the Sovereign Lord.^(E)

⁵ 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.
⁶ A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end^(B) to the pride of the Philistines.
⁷ 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)