King James Version
1 Samuel • Chapter 5
1
And the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from the stone of Abel to Ashdod.
2
And the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside Dagon.
3
And the Ashdodites arose early the next day, and behold, Dagon had fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and they took Dagon and returned it to its place.
4
And they arose early in the morning the day after, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off at the threshold; only Dagon remained intact on it.
5
Therefore, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon in Ashdod do not tread upon the threshold of Dagon to this day.
6
And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Ashdodites, and He struck them and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its borders.
7
And the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, and they said, "The ark of the God of Israel cannot remain with us, for His hand is harsh against us and against Dagon our god."
8
And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and they 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 moved around." And they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9
And it came to pass after they had surrounded it, that the hand of the Lord was upon the city with a great turmoil, and He struck the men of the city from small to great, and they were covered with tumors.
10
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron, and when the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people."
11
And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send back the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its place, and do not let us die, we and our people, for there was a deadly panic in all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there."
12
And the men who did not die were struck in the pits, and the cry of the city rose to heaven.