1 SamuelChapter 5
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1The Philistines had captured the ark of God. They took it from Ebenezer to the city of Ashdod. 2They carried it into the temple of their god Dagon. They set it next to his statue. 3Early the next morning the people of Ashdod got up. There was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground in front of the ark of the LORD! So they picked Dagon up and put him back in his place. 4But early the next morning they got up again. There was Dagon, fallen on his face in front of the ark of the LORD again! His head and his hands had broken off. They were lying on the doorway. Only his body was left. 5That is why, even today, the priests of Dagon do not step on the doorway of Dagon's temple in Ashdod. No one else who goes into the temple does either. 6The LORD's hand came down hard on the people of Ashdod and the area around it. He struck them down and made them suffer with tumors. 7The men of Ashdod saw what was happening. They said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us. His hand is hard on us and on our god Dagon." 8So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines. They asked, "What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" The rulers answered, "Move it to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel. 9But after they moved the ark to Gath, the LORD's hand was against that city too. The city was thrown into a great panic. He struck the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 10So they sent the ark of God on to Ekron. But when it arrived, the people of Ekron cried out. They said, "They've brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and our people!" 11So the people of Ekron called together all the Philistine rulers. They said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel! Let it go back to its own place, so it won't kill us and our people!" A deadly panic had spread through the whole city. God's hand was very hard on it. 12The people who did not die were struck with tumors. The cry of the city went up to heaven.