1 Samuel 5

¹And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

²And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it beside Dagon.

³And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.

⁴And when they rose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD, with the head of Dagon and both his hands cut off at the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left.

⁵That is why to this day the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.

⁶And the hand of the LORD was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he devastated them, striking them with tumors — Ashdod and its territory.

⁷And when the people of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is severe against us and against Dagon our god."

⁸So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" They replied, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel there.

⁹And after they moved it, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic; and he struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people!"

¹¹So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines, and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its place, so that it does not kill us and our people." For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

¹²And those who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.