⁷ And when the inhabitants of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is heavy on us and on our god Dagon.” ⁸ So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” The inhabitants of Gath replied, “Let the ark of God be moved on to us.”^[a] So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath.^{[b](A) 9} But after they had brought it to Gath,^[c] the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic; he struck the inhabitants of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.^{(B) 10} So they sent the ark of the God of Israel^[d] to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “Why^[e] have they brought around to us^[f] the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our^[g] people?”

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;^(A)