1 Samuel 5

The Philistines and the Ark

5Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it ^afrom Ebenezer to Ashdod. ²When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of ^bDagon ¹and set it by Dagon. ³And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, ^cfallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^dset it in its place again. ⁴And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. ^eThe head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only ²Dagon’s torso was left of it. ⁵Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house ^ftread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶But the ^ghand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ^hravaged them and struck them with ⁱtumors, ³both Ashdod and its ^jterritory. ⁷And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the ^kGod of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” ⁸Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the ^llords of the Philistines, 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 away to ^mGath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. ⁹So it was, after they had carried it away, that ⁿthe hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, ⁴and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” ¹¹So 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 back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. ¹²And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the ^ocry of the city went up to heaven.