1 Samuel 6
1 Now the ark of the Lord was in the region of the Philistines for seven months.
The ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2 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:
The Philistines called for the priests, and for the diviners, and for the magicians, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? Tell us how we should send it to its place."
3 “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.”
And they said, "If you are going to send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty. But return to him a reparation, then you shall be healed and he will be reconciled to you. Will not, then, his hand be removed from you?"
4 And they said, “What is it that we ought to repay to him because of transgression?” And they responded:
Then they said, "What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on you and your lords.
5 “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.
Therefore you shall make images of your tumors, and images of the mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6 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?
Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
7 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.
"Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart, and two milk cows, on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and take their calves from them back home;
8 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.
and take the ark, and lay it on the cart; and put the figures of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a box by its side; and send it away, that it may go.
9 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.”
And watch; if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it was a chance that happened to us."
10 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.
The men did so, and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;
11 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.
and they put the ark on the cart, and the box with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors.
12 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.
The cows took the straight way by the way to Beth Shemesh; they went along the highway, mooing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the territory of Beth Shemesh.
13 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.
And those of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to meet it.
14 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.
And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stopped there near a large rock. And they split the wood of the cart, and offered up the cows for a burnt offering to Jehovah.
15 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.
The Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the chest that was with it, in which the articles of gold were, and put them on the large rock. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Jehovah.
16 And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Ekron on the same day.
When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 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.
These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
18 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.
and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large rock on which they set down the ark of Jehovah is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite.
19 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.
But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the people of Beth Shemesh when they saw the ark of Jehovah. So he struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned, because Jehovah had struck the people with a great slaughter.
20 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?”
And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before this holy thing? And to whom should he go up from us?"
21 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.”
They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of Jehovah; come down, and bring it up to yourselves."
