The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 The P'lishtim had captured the ark of God and brought it from Even-'Ezer to Ashdod.
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And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
2 Then the P'lishtim took the ark of God, brought it to the temple of Dagon and set it next to Dagon.
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When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 But early the next morning, when the people of Ashdod got up, there was Dagon, fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of ADONAI. They took Dagon and set him in his place again;
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And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 but early the following morning, when they got up, Dagon was again fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of ADONAI; this time, the head of Dagon and both hands lay there, severed, on the threshold; all that was left of Dagon was his torso.
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And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
5 This is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and those entering his temple never walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.
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Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
6 ADONAI began oppressing the people of Ashdod; he ravaged them, striking Ashdod and its surrounding area with tumors.
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But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
7 When the people of Ashdod came to understand what was happening, they said, "The ark of the God of Isra'el can't remain with us, because he is oppressing us and our god Dagon."
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And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
8 They summoned all the leaders of the P'lishtim and asked, "What are we to do with the ark of the God of Isra'el?" They answered, "Have the ark of the God of Isra'el carried to Gat." So they carried the ark of the God of Isra'el to Gat.
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They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.
9 But after it arrived there, ADONAI oppressed that city, causing terrible panic. He struck the people of the city, great and small alike; tumors broke out on them.
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And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
10 Next they sent the ark of God to 'Ekron; but when the ark of God arrived in 'Ekron the 'Ekronim shouted, "Now they've brought the ark of the God of Isra'el to us, to kill us and our people!"
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Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
11 So they summoned all the leaders of the P'lishtim and said, "Send the ark of the God of Isra'el away! Let it go back to its own place, so that it won't kill us and our people!"- because death and panic pervaded the whole city; God's oppression was very heavy there.
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So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
12 The people who didn't die were struck with the tumors; and the city's cries for help reached the skies.
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And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.