1 Samuel 05 The ark in the land of the Philistines causes them distress

 1 Samuel 05

The ark in the land of the Philistines causes them distress

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

2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and put it in the house of Dagon, and put it next to Dagon.

3 But those of Ashdod arose early in the morning, and behold, Dagon lay with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and put it back in its place.

4 And when he rose early in the morning the next day, behold, Dagon was lying face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord; and Dagon's head and both hands cut over the threshold; only the trunk was left to Dagon.

5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any of those who enter the house of Dagon step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdoth, even today.

6 But the hand of the Lord gripped those of Ashdod, and devastated them: and smote them with hemorrhoids, Ashdod and its terms.

7 And when the men of Ashdod saw it, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel remain with us; for his hand is hard on us, and on Dagon, our god.

8 So they sent and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they said, The ark of the God of Israel will return to Gath. So they surrounded it with the ark of the God of Israel.

9 And it came to pass that, since they surrounded her with it, the hand of the Lord came against that city, with great vexation: for it smote the men of that city, from the small to the great: and they had hemorrhoids in the secret parts.

10 Then they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, however, that when the ark of God came to Ekron, those of Ekron exclaimed, saying, They transported the ark of the God of Israel to me, to kill me and my people.

11 And they sent, and gathered all the princes of the Philistines, and said, Send the ark of the God of Israel, and return to his place, lest he kill either me or my people. Because there was mortal vexation in the whole city, and the hand of God had become very much there.

12 And the men who did not die were so wounded with hemorrhoids that the cry of the city went up to heaven.