1 Samuel 5

1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ha'ezer unto Ashdod.

Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.

2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon.

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

And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again.

4 And when they arose early on the morning of the following day, behold, Dagon was lying upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the fish portion was left on him.

And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place.

5 Therefore do the priests of Dagon, and all that come into Dagon's house, not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod even until this day.

So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod.

6 And the hand of the Lord became heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with hemorrhoids, even Ashdod and its territory.

But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod.

7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not remain with us; for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our God.

And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god.

8 And they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be removed unto Gath. And they removed the ark of the God of Israel thither.

So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.

9 And it happened, after they had removed it, that the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great confusion; and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had hemorrhoids in their secret parts.

But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great.

10 And they sent away the ark of God to 'Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to 'Ekron, that the 'Ekronites cried out, saying, They have removed to us the ark of the God of Israel, to slay us and our people.

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people.

11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, that it may return to its own place, so that it may not slay us, and our people; for there was a confusion of death throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there.

12 And the people that did not die were smitten with the hemorrhoids; and the lamentation of the city went up to heaven.

And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven.