1 Samuel 5

1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.

After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

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

They brought the Ark of God into the Temple of Dagon and placed it next to Dagon.

3 And when they of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, they saw Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back up.

4 And when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the fish-stump was left to him.

When they got up early the next morning, they saw Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord, with his head and hands broken off lying on the doorstep. Only his body remained intact.

5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

(That's why the priests of Dagon, and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod, don't tread on the doorstep, even up to now.)

6 And the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he laid them waste, and smote them with hemorrhoids, — Ashdod and its borders.

The Lord punished the people of Ashdod and its surrounding area, devastating them and plaguing them with swellings.

7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is severe upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

When the people of Ashdod saw what was going on, they said, “We can't let the Ark of the God of Israel remain here with us, because he is punishing us and Dagon our god.”

8 And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they said, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about [thither].

So they sent for all the Philistine rulers and asked them, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” “Take the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath,” they replied. So they moved it to Gath.

9 And it came to pass that, after they had carried it about, the hand of Jehovah was against the city with very great panic; and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and hemorrhoids broke out upon them.

But once they'd moved the Ark to Gath, the Lord also took action against that town, throwing it into great confusion and attacking the people of the town, young and old, with a plague of swellings.

10 And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have 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, but as soon as it arrived, the leaders of Ekron shouted, “They've moved the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and our people!”

11 And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it kill us not, and our people. For there was deadly alarm throughout the city: the hand of God was very heavy there;

So they sent for all the Philistine rulers and said, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel away, back to where it came from, otherwise it's going to kill us and our people.” People were dying throughout the town, creating terrible panic, for God's punishment was very hard.

12 and the men that died not were smitten with the hemorrhoids; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Those who didn't die were plagued with swellings, and the cry for help from the town reached up to heaven.