ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Filisteǁîn tawa
1 Filisteǁîn ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Elob disa ū tsî Ebenesersa xu ǁîn ǃās, Asdods ǁga ge ǃgû-ū. 2 Tsîn ge ǁîsa ǁîn elob, Dagonni tempeli ǃnâ ǂgâ-ū tsî Dagonni īb xōǀkhā ge mâi. 3 Sao ra ǁgoagan ge Asdods khoena Dagonni īb, ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb dis aiǃâ, ǃhūb ai ǁnāǁgoe ǃkhaisa ge mû. On ge Dagonni ība ūkhâi tsî ǁkhawa ǃkhais âb ai ge mâi-oa. 4 Xawe sao ra tsēs ǃnauǁgoagan ge khâi, ob ge Dagonni ība ǁkhawa ais ǂama, ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb dis aiǃâ ge ǁnāǁgoe i. ǁÎb danas tsî ǁôakha tsîn ge khôaǁnâ hâse dao-ams ǃnâ ge ǁgoe i, tsîs ge soros ǀguisa ge ǃgau hâ i. 5 ǁNā-amaga gu ge Dagonni di pristergu tsî ǁîb tempeli ǃnâ ra ǂgân tsîn hoana nētsēs kōse Dagonni tempeli, Asdods ǃnâ mâb dao-ams ǃnâ dā tama hâ.
6 ǃKhūb ge Asdods khoena kaise ǃgomse ge ǁkhara tsîb ge Asdods tsî ǁnā ǀkharib din ai tsuide hā kai tsî ǁîna ge ǃaoǃao. 7 Tsî Asdods din ge tare-i ra īsa mû, on ge ge mî: “ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Israeli di Elob disa as ǃaruǀî tā sada tawa hâ, ǁîb kaise sada tsî sada elob, Dagonni tsîna ra ǁkhara xuige.” 8 Tsîn ge sîsabega sî tsî hoa koro gao-aogu Filisteǁîn diga ǂgaiǀhao tsî ge dî: “Tare-e da ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes, Israeli di Elob dis ǀkha nî dī?”
O gu ge gao-aoga ge mî: “As ǁîsa Gats ǃoa ǃgû-ūhe.” On ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Israeli di Elob disa ǁnāǀî ge ǃgû-ū. 9 Xawe ǁîsan ge sī-ūs khaoǃgâb ge ǃKhūba ǁnā ǃās ona ǁkhara tsî kai ǃaoba ǁîs ǃnâ ge hā kai. ǁÎb ge ǁnā ǃās di khoen hoana, ǂkhamna xu kain kōse tsuin ǀkha ge ǁkhara. 10 ǁNās khaoǃgân ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Elob disa Ekrons ǁga ge sî. ǁÎs ge ǁnāpa sī, on ge Ekrons khoena ge ǃau: “ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Israeli di Elob disan ge sida ǃoa go hā-ū, sida tsî sida khoenan nî ǃgamga.” 11 On ge ǁkhawa sîsabega sî tsî Filisteǁîn di ǂgaeǂgui-aogu hoaga ǀhaoǀhao tsî ge mî: “ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Israeli di Elob disa sî-oa ǁîs di ǃkhais ǂûs ǁga, îs tā sida tsî sida khoen tsîda ǃgam.” Kai ǃaob ge hoaraga ǃās ǃnâ ge hâ i, Elob ge ǁîna ǃgomse ǁkhara xui-ao. 12 ǁNān ǁō tama ge in ain ge tsuina ge ǂoa tsîb ge ǃaub âna ǃnūseb kōse gere ǁnâusen.
God Causes Trouble for the Philistines
1 The Philistines took the sacred chest from near Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They brought it into the temple of their god Dagon and put it next to the statue of Dagon, which they worshiped.
3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, they found the statue lying facedown on the floor in front of the sacred chest. They put the statue back where it belonged. 4 But early the next morning, it had fallen over again and was lying facedown on the floor in front of the chest. The body of the statue was still in one piece, but its head and both hands had broken off and were lying on the stone floor in the doorway. 5 This is why the priests and everyone else step over that part of the doorway when they enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod.
6 The Lord caused a lot of trouble for the people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He made sores break out all over their bodies, and everyone was in a panic. 7 Finally, they said, “The God of Israel did this. He is the one who caused all this trouble for us and our god Dagon. We've got to get rid of this chest.”
8 The people of Ashdod invited all the Philistine rulers to come to Ashdod, and they asked them, “What can we do with the sacred chest that belongs to the God of Israel?”
“Send it to Gath,” the rulers answered. But after they took it there, 9 the Lord made sores break out on everyone in town. The people of Gath were frightened, 10 so they sent the sacred chest to Ekron. But before they could take it through the town gates, the people of Ekron started screaming, “They've brought the sacred chest that belongs to the God of Israel! It will kill us and our families too!”
The Philistines Send Back the Sacred Chest
11 The people of Ekron called for another meeting of the Philistine rulers and told them, “Send this chest back where it belongs. Then it won't kill us.”
Everyone was in a panic, because God was causing a lot of people to die, 12 and those who had survived were suffering from the sores. They all cried to their gods for help.
