1And the Philistines took the ark of Elohim and brought it from Eḇen Ha‛ĕzer to Ashdoḏ,

2and the Philistines took the ark of Elohim and brought it into the house of Dag̅on and set it by Dag̅on.

3And the Ashdoḏites rose early in the morning and saw Dag̅on fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of יהוה. So they took Dag̅on and put it in its place again.

4And they arose early the next morning and saw Dag̅on fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of יהוה, and the head of Dag̅on and both the palms of its hands cut off, on the threshold, only Dag̅on itself was left of it.

5That is why, to this day, the priests of Dag̅on and all who come into Dag̅on’s house do not tread on the threshold of Dag̅on in Ashdoḏ.

6But the hand of יהוה was heavy on the Ashdoḏites, and He wasted them and smote them with tumours – Ashdoḏ and its borders.

7And when the men of Ashdoḏ saw this, they said, “Let not the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl remain with us, for His hand has been hard on us, and on Dag̅on our mighty one.”

8Then they sent and gathered to them all the princes of the Philistines, and said, “What do we do with the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl be removed to Gath.” And they removed the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.

9And it came to be, after they removed it, that the hand of יהוה was against the city with a very great destruction. And He smote the men of the city, from the least to the greatest, and tumours broke out on them.

10They then sent the ark of Elohim to Eqron. And it came to be, as the ark of Elohim came to Eqron, that the Eqronites cried out, saying, “They have removed the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl to us, to kill us and our people!”

11And they sent and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, and let it return to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there had come a deadly destruction throughout all the city – the hand of Elohim was very heavy there.

12And the men who did not die were smitten with tumours, and the cry of the city went up to the heavens.