1 Samuel 5

1 Then the Philistines took the ark of God, and they transported it from the Stone of Assistance into Ashdod.

And the Philistines took the ark of Elohim, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.

2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it into the temple of Dagon. And they stationed it beside Dagon.

When the Philistines took the ark of Elohim, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3 And when the Ashdodites had risen up at first light on the next day, behold, Dagon was lying prone on the ground before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and they set him again in his place.

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of YHWH. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

4 And again, on the next day, rising up in the morning, they found Dagon lying on his face upon the ground, before the ark of the Lord. But the head of Dagon, and both palms of his hands had been cut off upon the threshold.

And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of YHWH; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

5 Moreover, only the trunk of Dagon remained in its place. For this reason, the priests of Dagon, and all who enter his temple, do not tread upon the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, even to this day.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

6 Now the hand of the Lord weighed heavily upon the Ashdodites, and he destroyed them. And he struck Ashdod and its borders at the inner part of the buttocks. And in the villages and fields, in the midst of that region, mice rose up and burst forth. And this caused a great tumult unto death in the city.

But the hand of YHWH was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.

7 Then the men of Ashdod, seeing this kind of plague, said: “The ark of the God of Israel shall not remain with us. For his hand is harsh, over us and over Dagon, our god.”

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the Elohim of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our elohim.

8 And sending, they gathered together all the princes of the Philistines to them, and they said, “What shall we do about the ark of the God of Israel?” And the Gathites responded, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be led around.” And they led the ark of the God of Israel around.

They sent therefore and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the Elohim of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the Elohim of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the Elohim of Israel about thither.

9 And as they were carrying it around, the hand of the Lord fell upon every single city with an exceedingly great slaughter. And he struck down the men of each and every city, from the small even to the great. And cysts were festering at their buttocks. And the Gathites took counsel, and they made for themselves seat covers from pelts.

And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of YHWH was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

10 Therefore, they sent the ark of God into Ekron. And when the ark of God had arrived at Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, so that it may kill us and our people!”

Therefore they sent the ark of Elohim to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of Elohim came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the Elohim of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

11 And so they sent and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines, and they said: “Release the ark of the God of Israel, and return it to its own place. And let it not kill us, with our people.”

So they sent and gathered together all rulers of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the Elohim of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of Elohim was very heavy there.

12 For the fear of death fell upon every single city, and the hand of God was very heavy. Also, the men who did not die were being afflicted in the inner part of the buttocks. And the wailing of each city was ascending to heaven.

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.