1 Samuel 5:1-7

New King James Version

The Philistines and the Ark

5 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it ^(A)from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of ^(B)Dagon^[a] and set it by Dagon. ³ And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, ^(C)fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^(D)set it in its place again. ⁴ And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. ^(E)The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only ^[b]Dagon’s torso was left of it. ⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house ^(F)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶ But the ^(G)hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ^(H)ravaged them and struck them with ^(I)tumors,^[c] both Ashdod and its ^(J)territory. ⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the ^(K)God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.”