1 Samuel Chapter 5

The Philistines and the Ark

¹ The Philistines carried the Ark from Ebenezer to Ashdod ² to Dagon’s temple and set it up beside him. ³ When people got up early the next morning, Dagon had fallen face down on the ground in front of the Ark of Yahveh. They put Dagon back in place. ⁴ But when they got up early the next day, he’d fallen face down on the ground in front of the Ark of Yahveh, and his head and hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only his trunk was left. ⁵ That’s why Dagon’s priests and everybody that goes in his temple still don’t step on his threshold in Ashdod.               

1 Sam 5:1-5

⁶ Yahveh heavily oppressed the people in Ashdod and around. He terrified them by striking them with tumors. ⁷ When the men in Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The Ark of Israel’s God must not stay here. He’s heavily oppressing us and our god Dagon.” ⁸ They gathered the Philistine lords, “What can we do with it?”

“Take it to Gath.” 

So they did, ⁹ but Yahveh oppressed the city and caused a panic. He struck the people, young and old, with tumors. ¹⁰ They sent it to Ekron. The people there cried out, “They’ve brought the Ark here to kill us.” ¹¹ They gathered the lords of the Philistines, “Send it back where it belongs so it won’t kill us.” A deathly panic gripped the city. God heavily oppressed it. ¹² People that didn’t die developed tumors, and the outcry from the city rose to the sky.

1 Sam 5:6-12