6 Now 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. 7 The 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!” 8 So 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.

9 After 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 tumorsh to break out on them. 10 So 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!” 11 So 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. 12 The men who did not die were struck with the tumors,k so that the cry of the city for help went up to heaven.

The Return of the Ark of Covenant

6 Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months, 2 and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumorsa and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers. 5 You must make images of your tumorsb and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land.