1 Samuel 5
All 12 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.
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- 1After capturing the ark of God, the Philistines carried it from Ebenezer to the city of Ashdod.
- 2They brought the ark of God into the house of Dagon and placed it next to Dagon.
- 3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, they found Dagon's statue had fallen face-down on the ground in front of the ark of the LORD. So they picked Dagon up and put him back in his place.
- 4But when they got up early the next morning, Dagon had fallen face-down on the ground before the ark of the LORD again, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were cut off and lying on the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
- 5That's why to this day, neither Dagon's priests nor anyone who enters his temple in Ashdod will step on the threshold.
- 6The LORD's hand came down hard on the people of Ashdod. He devastated them and struck them with tumors — both the people in the city and in the surrounding area.
- 7When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel can't stay here with us. His hand is heavy upon us and upon our god Dagon."
- 8So they sent messengers and gathered all the lords of the Philistines together and asked, "What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" The lords answered, "Move it to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath.
- 9But after they had moved it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction. He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and they had tumors in their secret parts.
- 10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As soon as it arrived, the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!"
- 11They called together all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send the ark of the God of Israel back to its own place, so it won't kill us and our people." There was a deadly destruction throughout the city, and the hand of God was very heavy there.
- 12Those who didn't die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.