1Sa 5 | ABEn | STEP | And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from out of Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

1 Samuel 5

CHAPTER 5 The Ark in the House of Dagon

1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from out of Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2 And [³took ¹the ²Philistines] the ark, of God and carried it into the house of Dagon, and stood it by Dagon. 3 And [³rose early ¹the ²Ashdodites], and they entered into the house of Dagon the next day. And they saw, and behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face upon the ground before the ark of God. And they raised Dagon, and they placed him upon his place. 4 And it came to pass as they rose early in the next day in the morning, and behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face before of the ark of the lord. And the head of Dagon, and both the traces of his hands were removed unto the front of the doorposts, and both the wrists of his hands were fallen upon the threshold. Only the spine of Dagon was left behind. 5 On account of this, [⁴do not ⁵mount ¹the ²priests ³of Dagon], nor do any enter into the house of Dagon by the threshold of the house of Dagon in Ashdod until this day; but by passing over, they pass over it. 6 And [⁴was oppressive ¹the ²hand ³of the lord] against the Ashdodites, and he tormented the Ashdodites, and he struck them in their buttock -- the one from Ashdod and their borders. 7 And [⁴beheld ¹the ²men ³of Ashdod] that it was so, and they spoke saying that, [⁶shall not settle ¹the ²ark ³of the ⁴God ⁵of Israel] with us, for [²is hard ¹his hand] against us, and against Dagon our god.

God Strikes the Philistines

8 And they send and gather the satraps of the Philistines to themselves. And they say, What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And [³say ¹the ²Gathites], Let [⁴pass between the ranks ¹the ²ark ³of God] to us! And [⁶passed between the ranks ¹the ²ark ³of the ⁴God ⁵of Israel] unto Gath. 9 And it came to pass after it being passed through the ranks, that [³came ¹the hand ²of the lord] against the city -- [³disturbance ²great ¹an exceedingly]; and he struck the men of the city from small unto great in their buttocks. 10 And they sent out the ark of God unto Ekron. And it came to pass as [³entered ¹the ark ²of God] unto Ekron, that [³yelled out ¹the Ekronites], saying, Why do you return the ark of the God of Israel to us, is it to put us to death and our people? 11 And they sent, and they brought together all the satraps of the Philistines. And they said, Send out the ark of the God of Israel, and let it sit in its place, so that in no way shall we be put to death -- us and our people. 12 For there came to pass a confusion of death in the entire city, [²severe ¹exceedingly], as [⁶entered ¹the ²ark ³of the ⁴God ⁵of Israel]. And the living and the dying were struck in the buttocks. And [⁵ascended ¹the ²cry ³of the ⁴city] unto the heaven.