1 Samuel 5:6–11

⁶The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, ^yterrorizing ^zand afflicting the people of Ashdod and its territory with tumors. ^abc7When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because His hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.” ⁸So they called all the Philistine rulers together ^dand asked, “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?”

“The ark of Israel’s God should be moved to Gath,” they replied. So the men of Ashdod moved the ark. ⁹After they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against the city of Gath, ^ecausing a great panic. He afflicted the men of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors. ^f

¹⁰The Gittites then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!” ^g

¹¹The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. ^hThey said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. It must return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” ⁱFor the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them. ^j