1 Nå hadde filisterne tatt Guds ark og fraktet den fra Eben-Eser til Asjdod.

Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.

2 De tok Guds ark inn i Dagons hus og plasserte den ved siden av Dagon.

They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon.

3 Men da folkene i Asjdod sto opp tidlig neste morgen, så de at Dagon hadde falt til jorden med ansiktet ned foran Herrens ark. De løftet Dagon opp igjen og satte ham på plass.

And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again.

4 Neste morgen, da de sto opp tidlig, hadde Dagon igjen falt til jorden med ansiktet ned foran Herrens ark; hodet og hendene hans var avrevet og lå på dørterskelen; bare kroppen var igjen.

And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place.

5 Til denne dag setter ingen prest for Dagon, eller noen som går inn i Dagons hus, sin fot på dørterskelen i Dagons hus i Asjdod.

So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod.

6 Men Herrens hånd lå tungt på folket i Asjdod, og han sendte sykdom over hele landet Asjdod.

But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod.

7 Da mennene i Asjdod så hvordan det var fat, sa de: La ikke Israels Guds ark være hos oss, for hans hånd er hard mot oss og vår gud Dagon.

And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god.

8 Da sendte de bud etter alle filistrenes herrer og spurte: Hva skal vi gjøre med Israels Guds ark? De svarte: La Israels Guds ark bli sendt videre til Gat. Så tok de Israels Guds ark bort dit.

So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.

9 Men etter at de hadde sendt den dit, ble Herrens hånd vendt mot byen for å ødelegge den, og sykdomstegn viste seg på alle innbyggerne, små og store.

But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great.

10 Så sendte de Guds ark til Ekron. Men da Guds ark ankom Ekron, ropte byens folk: De har sendt Israels Guds ark til oss for å ødelegge oss og vårt folk.

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people.

11 De sendte bud etter alle filistrenes herrer og sa: Send Israels Guds ark tilbake til sitt sted, så den ikke forårsaker død for oss og vårt folk: for det var stor frykt for døden i hele byen; Herrens hånd var svært tung over dem.

So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there.

12 De som ikke ble rammet av døden, ble hardt plaget av sykdom, og byens klagerop nådde himmelen.

And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven.