⁶Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors,^f both in Ashdod and its territories. ⁷The men of Ashdod saw that it was so, and they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand is harsh on us and on Dagon our god!” ⁸So they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines to them, and they asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around toward Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath.

⁹After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city from the youngest to the oldest,^g causing tumors^h to break out on them. ¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and ourⁱ people!” ¹¹So they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines, and they said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For a deadly confusion^j was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

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Footnotes

fThe Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “boils”; the reading tradition (Qere) has “tumors”
gLiterally “from small up to great”
hThe Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “boils”; the reading tradition (Qere) has “tumors”
iHebrew “me and my”
jLiterally “a confusion of death”; indicates a genitive of attribute