1 Samuel 5

5 ¹The Philistines had captured the ark of our Father, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ²The Philistines took our Father's ark, brought it into Dagon's temple, and set it beside Dagon. ³When Ashdod's people rose early next morning, Dagon lay face-down on the ground before the ark of our Father. They took Dagon and set him back in place. ⁴When they rose early the next morning, Dagon had again fallen face-down on the ground before the ark of our Father. This time his head and both hands lay broken off on the threshold; only his body remained. ⁵So to this day Dagon's priests and all who enter Dagon's temple in Ashdod do not step on Dagon's threshold. ⁶The hand of our Father pressed heavily on the people of Ashdod. He devastated them and struck them with tumors—Ashdod and its surrounding territory. ⁷When the men of Ashdod saw this, they said, "The ark of Israel's God must not stay with us; his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god." ⁸They summoned all the Philistine rulers and asked, "What do we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" "Move the ark of the God of Israel to Gath," they answered. So they moved the ark of the God of Israel there.

⁹After they moved it, the hand of our Father came against that city too, causing a very great panic. He struck its people, young and old, and tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰So they sent the ark of our Father to Ekron. But as it arrived, the people of Ekron cried out, "They've brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people!"

¹¹So they gathered all the Philistine rulers and said, "Send the ark of Israel's God away; let it return to its place, so it won't kill us and our people." A deadly panic had gripped the whole city; our Father's hand lay very heavy there. ¹²Those who did not die were struck with tumors, and the city's cry for help went up to heaven.