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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1 Samuel 5
5
The Ark in Philistia
1After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2They brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3Early the next day the people of Ashdod saw that Dagon had fallen forward on the ground in front of the Lord’s ark. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4But the next morning they saw that Dagon had ⌞again⌟ fallen forward on the ground in front of the Lord’s ark. Dagon’s head and his two hands were cut off ⌞and were lying⌟ on the temple’s threshold. The rest of Dagon’s body was intact.#5:4 Greek; Masoretic Text “Only Dagon was left.” 5This is why the priests of Dagon and everyone else who comes into Dagon’s temple in Ashdod still don’t step on the temple’s threshold.
6The Lord dealt harshly with the people of Ashdod. He destroyed them by striking the people in the vicinity of Ashdod with tumors. 7When the people of Ashdod realized what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay with us, because their God is dealing harshly with us and our god Dagon.” 8The people of Ashdod called together all the Philistine rulers. “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” they asked.
“The ark of the God of Israel must be taken to Gath,” the rulers said.#5:8 Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek read “The citizens of Gath said, ‘Let the ark of God be brought to us.’ ” So the people took the ark of the God of Israel there.
9But after they had moved it,#5:9 Dead Sea Scrolls add “to Gath.” the Lord threw the city into a great panic: He struck all the important and unimportant people in the city, and they were covered with tumors. 10So the people of Gath sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill us.” 11They called together all the Philistine rulers. “Send the ark of the God of Israel away,” they said. “Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us or our people.” There was a fear of death throughout the city, where God dealt ⌞with them⌟ very harshly. 12The people who didn’t die were struck with tumors. So the cry of the city went up to heaven.
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