1 Samuel 5

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

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

2 The Philistines took it, 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 the Ashdodites rose early on the next day, and look, Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark of Jehovah. So they raised up Dagon and set him in his place again.

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

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 neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to 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 But the hand of Jehovah 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.

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 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."

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 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.

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 came about that after they had brought it around, the hand of Jehovah 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.

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 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?"

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 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.

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 The men who did not die were struck with the tumors; and the cry 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.