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1 Samuel

Tells about Samuel, the last judge, and the beginning of Israel's monarchy with King Saul and young David.

Chapter 5

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1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

*The Philistines seized God's box and moved it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

*When the Philistines seized God's box, they put it in Dagon's home and placed it next to Dagon.

3 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.

*The next morning, when the people of Ashdod got up, they found Dagon face down on the ground in front of the LORD's ark. So they picked him up and put him back in his spot.

4 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.

*The next morning when they woke up early, they saw that Dagon had fallen face down on the ground in front of the LORD's ark. His head and both hands were cut off at the doorstep. Only a small piece of Dagon remained.

5 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.

*So, the priests of Dagon and those who enter his house don't step on Dagon's threshold in Ashdod until now.

6 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.

*But God's powerful hand affected those in Ashdod severely, destroying them and causing them to suffer from a painful illness called emerods, affecting both Ashdod and its surrounding areas.

7 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.

*When the people of Ashdod realized this, they said, "The Ark of Israel's God should not stay with us. His hand is hurting us, as well as Dagon, our god."

8 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.

*So, they brought all the important people from Philistine and asked them what to do with the special box belonging to God of Israel. They said to take it to a place called Gath. So, they moved the special box to Gath.

9 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.

*So, after they moved it around, God's hand brought great destruction to the city. He punished the people there, big and small, by giving them a painful disease down there.

10 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.

*So they sent God's ark to a place called Ekron. When it arrived there, the people of Ekron were scared, saying, "They brought the powerful ark of Israel's God here 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 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.

*The leaders of the Philistines were called together and told to return the Ark of God to its original place. They feared that keeping it would result in their death and destruction, as they experienced severe punishment throughout their city.

12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

*Men who didn't die were struck with boils: and the city's cry reached heaven.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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