When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, because His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.”
Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is destroyed?”
Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Plead for me.”
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
The Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, indeed, Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
“For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, You yourself will also be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his leaders.
Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.
So they sent word and gathered all the governors of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Have the ark of the God of Israel brought to Gath.” So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.