1 Samuel 5

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

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

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

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

3 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.

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.

4 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.

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.

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.

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.

6 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

9 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.

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.

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?"

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.

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 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.

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

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