⁹ But after they had brought it to Gath,^[a] 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 tumours broke out on them. ¹⁰ So they sent the ark of the God of Israel^[b] to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, ‘Why^[c] have they brought across to us^[d] the ark of the God of Israel to kill us^[e] and our^[f] people?’ ¹¹ 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^[g] throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there;