1 Samuel 5

And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

The Philistines seized God's sacred Ark and took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

When the Philistines seized God's sacred Ark, they disrespectfully placed it next to their idol, Dagon, in his temple.

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

When the people of Ashdod woke up the next morning, they were shocked to find their god, Dagon, face down on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. They quickly picked him up and put him back in his place.

And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

When they woke up the next morning, they were shocked to find Dagon, their idol, toppled over, lying face down before the sacred ark of the Lord. Dagon's head and hands were severed, left at the doorway. All that remained was a mere stump of what once was their idol.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

Thus, neither Dagon's priests nor any visitors to his temple in Ashdod dare to step on the threshold, even to this day.

But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.

God's wrath weighed heavily on the people of Ashdod. He devastated them, afflicting them with painful sores, not just in Ashdod, but all along its borders.

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

When the people of Ashdod realized what was happening, they exclaimed, "We can't keep the Ark of the God of Israel here with us! His power is too strong for us and even for Dagon, our god."

They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, 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 carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.

So, they called together all the Philistine leaders and asked, "What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?" The response was, "Take it to Gath." And so, they moved the Ark of the God of Israel there.

And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

After they moved it around, God's wrath fell upon the city, causing immense devastation. He afflicted all the city's men, regardless of their status, with painful sores in their private areas.

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

So, they sent God's sacred chest to Ekron. As it arrived, the people of Ekron were filled with fear and despair. They cried out, "The sacred chest of Israel's God is here! It's here to destroy us and our people!"

So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

So the people of Ekron called all the Philistine leaders together and pleaded, "Send the Ark of the God of Israel away! Let it go back to its own place, so it doesn't kill us and our people." For death and destruction filled the whole city; God's hand was very heavy on it.

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Those who didn't die were struck with painful sores. The city's cries of agony reached the heavens.