“I will also cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod And him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will even turn My hand against Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” Says Lord Yahweh.
¶“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd And against the man, My Associate,” Declares Yahweh of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
But as for you, only do not rebel against Yahweh; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.”
“So now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask from you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
know with certainty that Yahweh your God will not continue to dispossess these nations from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you.