5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and He destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its territory.
7 When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh upon us and Dagon our god.
8 So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to 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 to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel there.
9 And it was so, that after they had carried it there, 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.
10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
11 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 return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.