1 Samuel 5

1 After the army of the Philistia people-group captured God’s sacred chest in Ebenezer [town], they took it to Ashdod [which is one of their biggest cities].

And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of help into Azotus.

2 They carried it into the temple of [their god] Dagon, and placed it alongside a statue of Dagon.

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

3 But early the next morning, when the people of Ashdod [went to see it, they saw that] the statue had fallen on its face in front of Yahweh’s sacred chest! So they set the statue up in its place again.

And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place.

4 But the following morning, [they saw that] it had fallen down in front of the sacred chest again. But this time, the statue’s head and hands had broken off, and were lying in the doorway. Only its body remained intact/unbroken.

And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold:

5 That is the reason that since that time, the priests of Dagon and everyone else who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the doorsill [where the hands and head of Dagon fell].

And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day.

6 Then Yahweh [SYN] powerfully caused the people of Ashdod and the people who lived in nearby villages to have (a very great plague/serious illness) of tumors.

And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice, and there was the confusion of a great mortality in the city.

7 The men of Ashdod realized why this was happening, and they cried out, “The god of the Israeli people is punishing us and is also punishing our god Dagon. So we cannot allow the sacred chest of the god of the Israelis to remain here!”

And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said: The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us: for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

8 They summoned the five kings of the Philistia people-group, and asked them, “What should we do with the sacred chest of the god of the Israelis?” The kings replied, “Take the sacred chest to Gath [city].” So they moved it to Gath.

And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethrites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.

9 But after they took it to Gath, Yahweh powerfully struck the people of that city also, with the result that many men, including young men and old men, got tumors on their skin. Then the people became very afraid.

And while they were carrying it about, the band of the Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethrites consulted together, and made themselves seats of skins.

10 So they took the sacred chest to Ekron [city]. But when the men carried the sacred chest into Ekron, the people there cried out, “Why are you bringing the sacred chest of the God of the Israelis into our city [RHQ]? [By doing that] you will cause us and the rest of our people to die!”

Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.

11 The people were terrified/in panic because [they knew that] God was starting to punish them severely. So they summoned the [five] kings of the Philistia people-group again, and [pleaded with them], saying, “Take this sacred chest of the god of the Israelis back to its own place! If you do not do that quickly, we will all die!”

They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return into its own place, and not kill us and our people.

12 Some of the people in Ekron had already died, and the rest of the people were suffering because of tumors on their skin. So they all cried out to their gods [MTY] [to help them].

For there was the fear of death in every city, and the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven.