1 Samuel 5

6 The Lord caused a lot of trouble for the people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He made sores break out all over their bodies,*5.6 sores … bodies: Or "He struck them with bubonic plague." and everyone was in a panic.*5.6 panic: Two ancient translations add "Rats came from their ships, and people were dying right and left."7 Finally, they said, "The God of Israel did this. He is the one who caused all this trouble for us and our god Dagon. We’ve got to get rid of this chest."

8 The people of Ashdod invited all the Philistine rulers to come to Ashdod, and they asked them, "What can we do with the sacred chest that belongs to the God of Israel?"

"Send it to Gath," the rulers answered. But after they took it there, 9 the Lord made sores break out on everyone in town. The people of Gath were frightened, 10 so they sent the sacred chest to Ekron. But before they could take it through the town gates, the people of Ekron started screaming, "They’ve brought the sacred chest that belongs to the God of Israel! It will kill us and our families too!"

The Philistines Send Back the Sacred Chest

11 The people of Ekron called for another meeting of the Philistine rulers and told them, "Send this chest back where it belongs. Then it won’t kill us."

Everyone was in a panic, because God was causing a lot of people to die,