And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

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

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

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

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

But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.

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 sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

They sent therefore 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 answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.

And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as 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 slay us and our people.

11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Yahweh’s Hand Against the Philistines

Now the Philistines took the ark of God and (A)brought it from Ebenezer to (B)Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to (C)the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. Then the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, and behold, (D)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. So they took Dagon and (E)set him in his place again. But they arose early the next morning, and behold, (F)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; [a]only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon’s house (G)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

Now (H)the hand of Yahweh was glorious against the Ashdodites, and (I)He made them desolate and struck them with (J)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. Thus the men of Ashdod saw that it was so and said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” So they sent and (K)gathered all the lords of the Philistines to 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 brought around to Gath.” And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. Now it happened after they had brought it around, that (L)the hand of Yahweh was against the city with very great confusion; and He struck the men of the city, both young and old, so that (M)tumors broke out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to [b]us, to put [c]us and [d]our people to death.” 11 They (N)sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not put [e]us and [f]our people to death.” For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; (O)the hand of God was very glorious there. 12 Now the men who did not die were struck with tumors and (P)the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 5:4 As in ancient versions; Heb only Dagon
  2. 1 Samuel 5:10 Lit me
  3. 1 Samuel 5:10 Lit me
  4. 1 Samuel 5:10 Lit my
  5. 1 Samuel 5:11 Lit me
  6. 1 Samuel 5:11 Lit my