1 Samuel 5

Meaning First Bible · 1 Samuel · chapter 5 of 31

1After the Philistines had captured the Chest of God, they took it from Stone-of-Help to Ravager,

2carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue.

3When the Ravager-Ones got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the Chest of He-Who-Is. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.

4But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the Chest of He-Who-Is, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained.

5That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ravager do not step on the threshold.

6Now the hand of He-Who-Is was heavy on the Ravager-Ones and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors.

7And when the men of Ravager saw what was happening, they said, “The Chest of the God of Strives-with-God must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon our god Dagon.”

8So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the Chest of the God of Strives-with-God?” “It must be moved to Wine-Press,” they replied. So they carried away the Chest of the God of Strives-with-God.

9But after they had moved the ark to Wine-Press, He-Who-Is’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.

10So they sent the Chest of God to Uprooting, but as it arrived, the children of Uprooting cried out, “They have brought us the Chest of the God of Strives-with-God in order to kill us and our people!”

11Then the Ekronites called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send away the Chest of the God of Strives-with-God. It must return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people!” For a deadly confusion had pervaded the city; the hand of God was very heavy upon it.

12Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.