1 Samuel 5
5
The Philistines and the Ark
1When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from #ch. 4:1; 7:12 Ebenezer to #Josh. 13:3Ashdod. 2Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside #Judg. 16:23Dagon. 3And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, #[Isa. 46:1, 2]Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, #[Jer. 50:2; Ezek. 6:4, 6; Mic. 1:7]and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon #[Zeph. 1:9]do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6 # [Ex. 9:3; Ps. 32:4; Acts 13:11] The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with #ch. 6:5tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” 8So they sent and gathered together all #Josh. 13:3the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. 9But after they had brought it around, #ch. 7:13; 12:15; Deut. 2:15 the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that #[See ver. 6 above]tumors broke out on them. 10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” 11#[See ver. 8 above] They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. #[See ver. 6 above]The hand of God was very heavy there. 12The men who did not die were struck with #[See ver. 6 above]tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
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1 Samuel 5: ESV
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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