Joe: Alright, so what’s going on in 1 Samuel 5?

Bible Expert: Well Joe, 1 Samuel 5 is all about the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant, the holiest object in all of Judaism.

Joe: Wait wait wait, the Ark of the Covenant? Like Indiana Jones?

Bible Expert: Yes, the same thing. The Philistines capture it, and they take it to their city of Ashdod and they put it in the temple of their god, Dagon.

Joe: OK, so what happens next?

Bible Expert: Well, the next morning, when the people of Ashdod went to the temple to worship Dagon, they found that the statue of Dagon had fallen face down on the ground in front of the Ark. So, the people put the statue back, and the next morning it had fallen again.

Joe: That’s wild! What did they do then?

Bible Expert: They were so scared that they decided to move the Ark to another city, Gath. But the same thing happened there. So they moved it to Ekron, but then the same thing happened there, too.

Joe: OK, so what finally happened to the Ark?

Bible Expert: Finally, the Philistines realized that the God of the Israelites was punishing them for taking the Ark, so they decided to send it back. They put it on a cart pulled by two cows, and the cows pulled it all the way back to the Israelites without anyone driving them.

Joe: Wow! That’s an incredible story. Thanks for the summary, Bible Expert!