1. After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box, they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdod,
2. took it into the temple of their god Dagon, and set it up beside his statue.
3. Early next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downwards on the ground in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place.
4. Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left.
5. (That is why even today the priests of Dagon and all his worshippers in Ashdod step over that place and do not walk on it.)
6. The Lord punished the people of Ashdod severely and terrified them. He punished them and the people in the surrounding territory by causing them to have tumours.
7. When they saw what was happening, they said, “The God of Israel is punishing us and our god Dagon. We can't let the Covenant Box stay here any longer.”
8. So they sent messengers and called together all five of the Philistine kings and asked them, “What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the God of Israel?”“Take it over to Gath,” they answered; so they took it to Gath, another Philistine city.