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

The Philistines took the special box of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

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

They took the special box of God into the house of Dagon, and set it beside Dagon.

3 A nd when those of Ashdod arose early in the morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again.

When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, they saw that Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the special box of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.

4 A nd when they arose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had 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.

But when they got up early the next morning, they saw that Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground in front of the special box of the Lord. And Dagon’s head and both his hands were cut off and lying in the doorway. Only the body of Dagon was left.

5 T herefore, neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon’s temple tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

So the religious leaders of Dagon and all who go into Dagon’s house do not step on the bottom part of the doorway in Ashdod to this day.

6 ¶ But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon those of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and smote them with hemorrhoids in Ashdod and within all their borders.

The hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites. He filled them with fear and punished them with pain and sores, both Ashdod and its lands.

7 A nd when they saw this, those of Ashdod 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.

When the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The special box of the God of Israel must not stay with us. For His hand is hard on us and on our god Dagon.”

8 T hey sent, therefore, and gathered all the cardinals of the Philistines unto themselves 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 removed unto Gath. And they removed the ark of the God of Israel there.

So they called together all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “What should we do with the special box of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the special box of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the box of the God of Israel there.

9 A nd it came to pass that after they had removed it, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction. And he smote the men of that city from the smallest to the greatest, and they broke out with hemorrhoids.

But after they had brought it there, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing much fear. He punished both the young and old men of the city, so that sores broke out upon them.

10 T herefore, they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have removed the ark of the God of Israel unto us to kill me and my people.

So they sent the special box of God to Ekron. When the box of God came to Ekron, the people there cried out, “They have brought the special box of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.”

11 S o they sent and gathered together all the cardinals 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 not kill me and my people, for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city, and the hand of God had become very heavy there.

So they called together all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Send away the special box of the God of Israel. Let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For the people of the city were afraid. The hand of God was very heavy there.

12 A nd those that did not die were smitten with the hemorrhoids, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The men who did not die were punished with sores, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.