1 Samuel 6
1 When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months,
Now the ark of the Lord was in the region of the Philistines for seven months.
2 the Philistines summoned the priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it back to its place.”
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Reveal to us in what manner we should send it back to its place.” And they said:
3 They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.”
“If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, do not choose to release it empty. Instead, repay to him what you owe because of sin. And then you will be cured. And you will know why his hand did not withdraw from you.”
4 “What guilt offering should we send back to Him?” asked the Philistines. “Five gold tumors and five gold rats,” they said, “according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.
And they said, “What is it that we ought to repay to him because of transgression?” And they responded:
5 Make images of your tumors and of the rats that are ravaging the land. Give glory to the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.
“In accord with the number of the provinces of the Philistines, you shall fashion five gold cysts and five gold mice. For the same plague has been upon all of you and your princes. And you shall fashion a likeness of your cysts and a likeness of the mice, which have destroyed the land. And so shall you give glory to the God of Israel, so that perhaps he may lift off his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.
6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people on their way as they departed?
Why have you hardened your hearts, just as Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he was struck, did he not then release them, and they went away?
7 Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.
Now therefore, fashion and take a new cart, with two cows that have given birth, but on which no yoke has been imposed. And yoke them to the cart, but retain their calves at home.
8 Take the ark of the LORD, set it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending Him as a guilt offering. Then send the ark on its way,
And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and you shall place it upon the cart, with the articles of gold that you have paid to him on behalf of transgression. You shall place these in a little box at its side. And release it, so that it may go.
9 but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”
And you shall watch. And if, indeed, it ascends by the way of his own parts, toward Beth-shemesh, then he has done this great evil to us. But if not, then we shall know that it is by no means his hand that has touched us, but instead it happened by chance.”
10 So the men did as instructed. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves.
Therefore, they did it in this way. And taking two cows that were feeding calves, they yoked them to the cart, and they enclosed their calves at home.
11 Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest containing the gold rats and the images of the tumors.
And they placed the ark of God upon the cart, with the little box that held the gold mice and the likenesses of the cysts.
12 And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
But the cows went directly along the way that leads to Beth-shemesh. And they advanced only in one direction, lowing as they went. And they did not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left. Moreover, the princes of the Philistines followed them, as far as the borders of Beth-shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight.
Now the Beth-shemeshites were harvesting wheat in the valley. And lifting up their eyes, they saw the ark, and they were glad when they had seen it.
14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
And the cart went into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemeshite, and it stood still there. Now in that place was a great stone, and so they cut up the wood of the cart, and they placed the cows upon it as a holocaust to the Lord.
15 And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.
But the Levites took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at its side, in which were the articles of gold, and they placed them upon the great stone. Then the men of Beth-shemesh offered holocausts and immolated victims, on that day, to the Lord.
16 And when the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Ekron on the same day.
17 As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.
Now these are the gold cysts, which the Philistines repaid to the Lord for transgression: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one.
18 The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers—the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
And there were gold mice, according to the number of the cities of the Philistines, of the five provinces, from the fortified city to the village that was without a wall, and even to the great stone upon which they placed the ark of the Lord, which was, at last in that day, in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemeshite.
19 But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter.
Then he struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had seen the ark of the Lord. And he struck down some of the people: seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.
20 The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”
And the men of Beth-shemesh said: “Who will be able to stand in the sight of the Lord, this holy God? And who will ascend to him from us?”
21 So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying: “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Descend and lead it back to you.”
