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 captured 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 the ark of God, brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it up beside Dagon.

3 And the Ashdodites rise early on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah; and they take Dagon, and put it back to its place.

When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen facedown on the ground before the ark of Yahweh. So they took Dagon and set him up in his place again.

4 And they rise early in the morning on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only the fishy part hath been left to him;

But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen facedown on the ground before the ark of Yahweh. The head of Dagon and both of his hands were lying cut off in the doorway. Only the trunk of Dagon remained.

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

This is why, even today, the priests of Dagon and anyone who comes into Dagon's house does not step on the doorway of Dagon in Ashdod.

6 And the hand of Jehovah is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He maketh them desolate, and smiteth them with emerods, Ashdod and its borders.

Yahweh's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod. He destroyed them and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.

7 And the men of Ashdod see that [it is] so, and have said, 'The ark of the God of Israel doth not abide with us, for hard hath been His hand upon us, and upon Dagon our god.'

When the men of Ashdod realized what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay with us, because his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.”

8 And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines unto them, and say, 'What do we do to the ark of the God of Israel?' and they say, 'To Gath let the ark of the God of Israel be brought round;' and they bring round the ark of the God of Israel;

So they sent for and gathered together all of the rulers of the Philistines; they said to them, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel there.

9 and it cometh to pass after they have brought it round, that the hand of Jehovah is against the city — a very great destruction; and He smiteth the men of the city, from small even unto great; and break forth on them do emerods.

But after they brought it around, Yahweh's hand was against the city, causing a very great confusion. He afflicted 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 cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of God to Ekron, that the Ekronites cry out, saying, 'They have brought round unto us the ark of the God of Israel, to put us to death — and our people.'

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came into Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.”

11 And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines, and say, 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and it turneth back to its place, and it doth not put us to death — and our people;' for there hath been a deadly destruction throughout all the city, very heavy hath the hand of God been there,

So they sent for and gathered together all of the rulers of the Philistines; they said to them, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12 and the men who have not died have been smitten with emerods, and the cry of the city goeth up into the heavens.

The men who did not die were afflicted with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to the heavens.