[1] Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them
from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. [2] They took the ark of God into the house of
Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon. [3] And when the people of Ashdod
got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the
earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and
put him in his place again. [4] And when they got up early on the morning
after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the
Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the
base was in its place. [5] So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who
come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of
Dagon in Ashdod. [6] But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of
Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod. [7]
And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of
the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our
god. [8] So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together
there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And
their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath.
So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. [9] But after they had
taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for
its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the
town, small and great. [10] So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when
the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry,
saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the
destruction of us and of our people. [11] So they sent and got together all
the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God
of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause
of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death
through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there. [12] And
those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the
cry of the town went up to heaven.
