1 Samuel 5

1 And the Philistines have taken the Ark of God, and bring it in from Eben-Ezer to Ashdod,

Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

2 and the Philistines take the Ark of God and bring it into the house of Dagon, and set it near Dagon.

The Philistines took it, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3 And the Ashdodites rise early on the next day, and behold, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the Ark of YHWH; and they take Dagon, and put it back in its place.

And the Ashdodites rose early on the next day, and look, Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they raised up Dagon and set him in his place again.

4 And they rise early in the morning on the next day, and behold, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the Ark of YHWH, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only Dagon’s [body] has been left of him;

And it happened when they arose early the next morning, look, Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon's torso was intact.

5 therefore the priests of Dagon, and all those coming into the house of Dagon, do not tread on the threshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, until this day.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

6 And the hand of YHWH is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He makes them desolate, and strikes them with lumps, Ashdod and its borders.

But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and he ravaged them and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And he brought up against them mice, and they burst out in their ships, and mice sprang up in the midst of their land, and there was a great terror of death in the city.

7 And the men of Ashdod see that [it is] so, and have said, “The Ark of the God of Israel does not abide with us, for His hand has been hard on us, and on our god Dagon.”

When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of God shall not stay with us; for his hand is severe on us, and on Dagon our god."

8 And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines to them, and say, “What do we do to the Ark of the God of Israel?” And they say, “Let the Ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath”; and they bring around the Ark of the God of Israel;

So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of God?" Then the Gittites answered, "Let the ark of God be carried over to us." So they brought the ark of God to Gath.

9 and it comes to pass after they have brought it around, that the hand of YHWH is against the city—a very great destruction; and He strikes the men of the city, from small and to great; and lumps break forth on them.

And it came about that after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great confusion: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them.

10 And they send the Ark of God to Ekron, and it comes to pass, at the coming in of the Ark of God to Ekron, that the Ekronites cry out, saying, “They have brought around the Ark of the God of Israel to us, to put us and our people to death.”

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, "Why have you brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people?"

11 And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines, and say, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel away, and it turns back to its place, and it does not put us and our people to death”; for there has been a deadly destruction throughout all the city, the hand of God has been very heavy there,

And they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people." For there was a panic throughout all the city when the ark of God arrived there.

12 and the men who have not died have been struck with lumps, and the cry of the city goes up into the heavens.

The men who did not die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.