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].
I Filistei, dunque, presero l’arca di Dio, e la trasportarono da Eben-Ezer a Asdod;
2 They carried it into the temple of [their god] Dagon, and placed it alongside a statue of Dagon.
presero l’arca di Dio, la portarono nella casa di Dagon, e la posarono allato a 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.
E il giorno dopo, gli Asdodei alzatisi di buon’ora trovarono Dagon caduto con la faccia a terra, davanti all’arca dell’Eterno. Presero Dagon e lo rimisero al suo posto.
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.
Il giorno dopo, alzatisi di buon’ora, trovarono che Dagon era di nuovo caduto con la faccia a terra, davanti all’Arca dell’Eterno; la testa e ambedue le mani di Dagon giacevano mozzate sulla soglia, e non gli restava più che il tronco.
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].
Perciò, fino al dì d’oggi, i sacerdoti di Dagon e tutti quelli che entrano nella casa di Dagon a Asdod non pongono il piede sulla soglia.
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.
Poi la mano dell’Eterno si aggravò su quei di Asdod, portò fra loro la desolazione, e li colpì di emorroidi, a Asdod e nel suo territorio.
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!”
E quando quelli di Asdod videro che così avveniva, dissero: “L’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele non rimarrà presso di noi, poiché la mano di lui è dura su noi e su Dagon, nostro dio”.
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.
Mandaron quindi a convocare presso di loro tutti i principi dei Filistei, e dissero: “Che faremo dell’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele?” I principi risposero: “Si trasporti l’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele a Gath”.
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.
E trasportaron quivi l’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele. E come l’ebbero trasportata, la mano dell’Eterno si volse contro la città, e vi fu una immensa costernazione. L’Eterno colpì gli uomini della città, piccoli e grandi, e un flagello d’emorroidi scoppiò fra loro.
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!”
Allora mandarono l’arca di Dio a Ekron. E come l’arca di Dio giunse a Ekron, que’ di Ekron cominciarono a gridare, dicendo: “Hanno trasportato l’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele da noi, per far morire noi e il nostro popolo!”
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!”
Mandaron quindi a convocare tutti i principi dei Filistei, e dissero: “Rimandate l’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele; torni essa al suo posto, e non faccia morir noi e il nostro popolo!” Poiché tutta la città era in preda a un terrore di morte, e la mano di Dio s’aggravava grandemente su di essa.
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].
Quelli che non morivano eran colpiti d’emorroidi, e le grida della città salivano fino al cielo.
