1 Samuel 5:1-7

EasyEnglish Bible

God's Covenant Box causes trouble for the Philistines

5 When the Philistines took God's Covenant Box, they took it from Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod.^{[a] 2} They carried it into the temple of Dagon, their god. They put the box next to the idol of Dagon. ³ The next morning, the people in Ashdod got up early. They saw that Dagon had fallen down in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. The idol's face was touching the ground. So they took Dagon and they put him back in his place.

⁴ The next morning, they got up early again. They saw that Dagon had fallen down in front of the Lord's Covenant Box again! His head and both his hands had broken off. They were lying on the step of the temple's door. Only his body remained together. ⁵ Because of that, even today Dagon's priests and other people never walk on the step of Dagon's temple in Ashdod.

⁶ The Lord punished the people who lived in Ashdod. He caused them to have a lot of pain, as well as the people in the places near Ashdod. He caused tumours to grow on their bodies.^{[b] 7} When the people in Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, ‘The Covenant Box of Israel's God must not stay here with us. He is punishing us and our god Dagon.’