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].

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

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

The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house 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 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.

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 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.

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].

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.

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.

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.

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!”

When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us; for his hand is severe on us, and on 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.

So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" Then the Gittites answered, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to us." So they brought the ark of God to 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.

And it happened 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.

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!”

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?"

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!”

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 very heavy terror of death throughout all the city when the ark of God arrived there.

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].

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