³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^(A)a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^(B)his hand does not turn away from you.”

⁹ and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^(A)Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^(B)his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

^16 (A)“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. ^(B)They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

^15 (A)You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of ^(B)Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. ^(C)None shall appear before me empty-handed.

²⁰ The ^(A)firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And ^(B)none shall appear before me empty-handed.

^11 (A)They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. ^(B)The hand of God was very heavy there.

⁹ But after they had brought it around, ^(A)the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that ^(B)tumors broke out on them.

⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.”