So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that is slay us not, and our people. For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return into its own place, and not kill us and our people.

And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it kill us not, and our people. For there was deadly alarm throughout the city: the hand of God was very heavy there;

They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city, the hand of God was very heavy there.

So they sent and convened all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines, and say, 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and it turneth back to its place, and it doth not put us to death, and our people;' for there hath been a deadly destruction throughout all the city, very heavy hath the hand of God been there,

So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there.

They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said: 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people'; for there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

And they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.' For there was a very heavy terror of death throughout all the city when the ark of God arrived there.

And so they sent and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines, and they said: "Release the ark of the God of Israel, and return it to its own place. And let it not kill us, with our people."

Send away the ark - It appears that it had been received at Ekron, for there was a deadly destruction through the whole city. They therefore concluded that the ark should be sent back to Shiloh.

So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send (e) away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
(e) The wicked when they feel the hand of God, grudge and reject him, where the godly humble themselves, and cry for mercy.

So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines,.... As the men of Ashdod had done before on the same account, 1-Samuel 5:8.
and said, send away the ark of the God of Israel; as these lords were united in their government, and made one common cause of it against Israel, one could not dispose of this capture without the consent of the rest; otherwise the lord of Ekron, with his princes, were clearly in it that it was right and best to send it away out of any of their principalities:
and let it go again to its own place; to the land of Israel and Shiloh there, though to that it never returned more:
that it slay us not, and our people; that is, all of them, for great numbers had been slain already, as follows:
for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; a mortal disease went through the whole city, and swept away a multitude of people:
the hand of God was very heavy there; it seems by the expression to haste been heavier on the inhabitants of this city than upon those of Ashdod and Gath, which made them the more pressing to get rid of the ark.

they sent--that is, the magistrates of Ekron.

The city - In every city, where the ark of God came.