1 Samuel 5
5
The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron
1The Philistines had captured the ark of God. They took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2They carried the ark into the temple of their god Dagon. They set it down beside the statue of Dagon. 3The people of Ashdod got up early the next day. They saw the statue of Dagon. There it was, lying on the ground! It had fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord. So they picked up the statue of Dagon. They put it back in its place. 4But the following morning when they got up, they saw the statue of Dagon. There it was, lying on the ground again! It had fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord. Its head and hands had been broken off. Only the body of the statue was left. Its head and hands were lying in the doorway of the temple. 5That’s why to this day no one steps on the bottom part of the doorway of Dagon’s temple at Ashdod. Not even the priests of Dagon step there.
6The Lord’s power was against the people of Ashdod and the settlements near it. He destroyed them. He made them suffer with growths in their bodies. 7The people of Ashdod saw what was happening. They said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us. His power is against us and against our god Dagon.” 8So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines. They asked them, “What should we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
The rulers answered, “Have the ark moved to Gath.” So they moved it.
9But after the people of Ashdod had moved the ark, the Lord’s power was against Gath. That threw its people into a great panic. The Lord made them break out with growths in their bodies. It happened to young people and old people alike. 10So the ark of God was sent to Ekron.
As the ark was entering Ekron, the people of the city cried out. They shouted, “They’ve brought the ark of the god of Israel to us. They want to kill us and our people.” 11So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines. They said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away. Let it go back to its own place. If you don’t, it will kill us and our people.” The death of so many people had filled the city with panic. God’s power was against the city. 12Those who didn’t die suffered with growths in their bodies. The people of Ekron cried out to heaven for help.
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1 Samuel 5: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Samuel 5
5
1After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2They brought the Ark of God into the Temple of Dagon and placed it next to Dagon. 3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, they saw Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back up. 4When they got up early the next morning, they saw Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord, with his head and hands broken off lying on the doorstep. Only his body remained intact. 5(That's why the priests of Dagon, and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod, don't tread on the doorstep, even up to now.)
6The Lord punished#5:6. “The Lord punished”: literally, “The hand of the Lord was heavy.” the people of Ashdod and its surrounding area, devastating them and plaguing them with swellings.#5:6. Some think these “swellings” or “tumors” were related to bubonic plague. The Septuagint adds at the end of this verse, “and rats swarmed throughout the land, and there was death and destruction in the town.” 7When the people of Ashdod saw what was going on, they said, “We can't let the Ark of the God of Israel remain here with us, because he is punishing us and Dagon our god.” 8So they sent for all the Philistine rulers and asked them, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
“Take the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath,” they replied. So they moved it to Gath. 9But once they'd moved the Ark to Gath, the Lord also took action against that town, throwing it into great confusion and attacking the people of the town, young and old, with a plague of swellings.
10So they sent the Ark of God to Ekron, but as soon as it arrived, the leaders of Ekron shouted, “They've moved the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and our people!” 11So they sent for all the Philistine rulers and said, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel away, back to where it came from, otherwise it's going to kill us and our people.” People were dying throughout the town, creating terrible panic, for God's punishment was very hard. 12Those who didn't die were plagued with swellings, and the cry for help from the town reached up to heaven.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com