5 Now the Philistines had taken the sacred chest, and they took it from Eben-Ezer to Ashdod 2 where they carried it into the temple of their god Dagon and placed it beside a statue of Dagon. 3 Early the next day when the Ashdodites got up, to their horror Dagon had fallen to the ground on its face in front of Yahweh’s box. So they stood it up and returned it to its place. 4 But then the next morning, more shock: Dagon had fallen to the ground on its face in front of Yahweh’s box but now its hands and head were cut off, and were lying on the threshhold. Only its body remained intact. 5 (Because of that, until this day Dagon’s priests and everyone who enters Dagon’s temple in Ashdod won’t tread on the threshhold.)