5 That is why, to this day, the priests of Dag̅on and all who come into Dag̅on’s house do not tread on the threshold of Dag̅on in Ashdoḏ.
6 But the hand of יהוה was heavy on the Ashdoḏites, and He wasted them and smote them with tumours – Ashdoḏ and its borders.
7 And when the men of Ashdoḏ saw this, they said, “Let not the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl remain with us, for His hand has been hard on us, and on Dag̅on our mighty one.”
8 Then they sent and gathered to them all the princes of the Philistines, and said, “What do we do with the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl be removed to Gath.” And they removed the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.
9 And it came to be, after they removed it, that the hand of יהוה was against the city with a very great destruction. And He smote the men of the city, from the least to the greatest, and tumours broke out on them.
10 They then sent the ark of Elohim to Eqron. And it came to be, as the ark of Elohim came to Eqron, that the Eqronites cried out, saying, “They have removed the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl to us, to kill us and our people!”
11 And they sent and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, and let it return to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there had come a deadly destruction throughout all the city – the hand of Elohim was very heavy there.