Yes, but there was more to come. In I Samuel 5:6 (NIV), it reads, “The LORD’s hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors.” The Philistines passed the Ark from city to city, but everywhere it rested, people were afraid. The Ark was with the Philistines for seven months. Then they returned it to the Israelites. They did not return it empty, either. They sent with it five gold tumors and five gold mice as a guilt offering. The gold tumors represented the real tumors, and the mice represented the leaders of the Philistine territories.