² They carried it into Dagon’s [^Ca major Philistine god, perhaps a storm god] temple and put it next to Dagon [^Cto symbolize that Israel’s god was now on the side of Dagon]. ³ When the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, they found that Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord [^Cas if in worship]. So they put Dagon back in his place. ⁴ The next morning when they rose, they again found Dagon fallen face-down on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. His head and hands had broken off and were lying ·in the doorway [on the threshold; ^Cthe treatment given corpses of enemy soldiers]. Only his ·body [trunk] was ·still in one piece [intact; left to him].