1 Samuel 5

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

After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer 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 brought the Ark of God into the Temple of Dagon and placed it next to 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.

When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, they saw Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back up.

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.

When they got up early the next morning, they saw Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord, with his head and hands broken off lying on the doorstep. Only his body remained intact.

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.

(That's why the priests of Dagon, and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod, don't tread on the doorstep, even up to now.)

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.

The Lord punished the people of Ashdod and its surrounding area, devastating them and plaguing them with swellings.

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.

When the people of Ashdod saw what was going on, they said, “We can't let the Ark of the God of Israel remain here with us, because he is punishing us and 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 Philistine rulers and asked them, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” “Take the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath,” they replied. So they moved it to Gath.

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 once they'd moved the Ark to Gath, the Lord also took action against that town, throwing it into great confusion and attacking the people of the town, young and old, with a plague of swellings.

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, but as soon as it arrived, the leaders of Ekron shouted, “They've moved the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and 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 for all the Philistine rulers and said, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel away, back to where it came from, otherwise it's going to kill us and our people.” People were dying throughout the town, creating terrible panic, for God's punishment was very hard.

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

Those who didn't die were plagued with swellings, and the cry for help from the town reached up to heaven.