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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1 Samuel 5: FBV
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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
1 Kings 5
5
1And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of Help into Azotus.
2And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him again in his place.
4And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold:
5And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day.
6And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice; and there was the confusion of a great mortality in the city.
7And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague said: The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us; for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
8And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethrites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.
9And while they were carrying it about, the hand of the Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great slaughter. And he smote the men of every city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethrites consulted together, and made themselves seats of skins.
10Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel; and let it return into its own place, and not kill us and our people.
12For there was the fear of death in every city; and the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did not die were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.