1And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it next to Dagon. 3And when those of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. So they took Dagon and put him back on his place. 4And when they arose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. The head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left to him. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 6And the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon those of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand has been severe upon us and Dagon our god. 8Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the rulers of the Philistines, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought to Gath. So they brought around the ark of the God of Israel. 9And so it was, after they had brought it around, that the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them. 10Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people! 11So they sent and gathered together all the rulers of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people. For there was a death panic throughout all the city, because the hand of God had been very heavy there. 12And the men who had not died were stricken with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to the heavens.