1 Samuel 6
1 And the Ark of YHWH is in the field of the Philistines [for] seven months,
When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months,
2 and the Philistines call for priests and for diviners, saying, “What do we do to the Ark of YHWH? Let us know with what we send it to its place.”
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.”
3 And they say, “If you are sending the Ark of the God of Israel away, you do not send it away empty; for you certainly send back a guilt-offering to Him; then you are healed, and it has been known to you why His hand does not turn aside from you.”
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.”
4 And they say, “What [is] the guilt-offering which we send back to Him?” And they say, “The number of the princes of the Philistines—five golden lumps, and five golden muroids—for one plague [is] to you all, and to your princes,
“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.
5 and you have made images of your lumps, and images of your muroids that are corrupting the land, and have given glory to the God of Israel; it may be [that] He lightens His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land;
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.
6 and why do you harden your heart as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Do they not—when He has rolled Himself on them—send them away, and they go?
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?
7 And now, take and make one new cart, and two suckling cows, on which a yoke has not gone up, and you have bound the cows in the cart, and caused their young ones to turn back from after them to the house,
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.
8 and you have taken the Ark of YHWH, and put it on the cart, and the vessels of gold which you have returned to Him—a guilt-offering—you put in a coffer on its side, and have sent it away, and it has gone;
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,
9 and you have seen if it goes up the way of its own border, to Beth-Shemesh—He has done this great evil to us; and if not, then we have known that His hand has not come against us; it has been an accident to us.”
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.”
10 And the men do so, and take two suckling cows, and bind them in the cart, and they shut up their young ones in the house;
So the men did as instructed. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves.
11 and they place the Ark of YHWH on the cart, and the coffer, and the golden muroids, and the images of their lumps.
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.
12 And the cows go straight in the way, on the way to Beth-Shemesh, they have gone in one highway, going and lowing, and have not turned aside right or left; and the princes of the Philistines are going after them to the border of Beth-Shemesh.
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.
13 And the Beth-Shemeshites are reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley, and they lift up their eyes, and see the Ark, and rejoice to see [it].
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.
14 And the cart has come into the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite, and stands there, and there [is] a great stone, and they cleave the wood of the cart, and they have caused the cows to ascend [as] a burnt-offering to YHWH.
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.
15 And the Levites have taken down the Ark of YHWH, and the coffer which [is] with it, in which [are] the vessels of gold, and place [them] on the great stone; and the men of Beth-Shemesh have caused burnt-offerings to ascend and sacrifice sacrifices in that day to YHWH;
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.
16 and the five princes of the Philistines have seen [it], and return [to] Ekron, on that day.
And when the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17 And these [are] the golden lumps which the Philistines have sent back—a guilt-offering to YHWH: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;
As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.
18 and the golden muroids—the number of all the cities of the Philistines, for the five princes, from the fortified city even to a village of the open place, and to the great stone [[or great meadow]] on which they placed the Ark of YHWH—[are] in the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite to this day.
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.
19 And He strikes among the men of Beth-Shemesh, for they looked into the Ark of YHWH, indeed, He strikes seventy men [out] of fifty thousand men [[or fifty thousand and seventy men]] among the people; and the people mourn, because YHWH struck among the people [with] a great striking.
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.
20 And the men of Beth-Shemesh say, “Who is able to stand before YHWH, this holy God? And to whom does He go up from us?”
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?”
21 And they send messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have sent back the Ark of YHWH; come down, take it up with you.”
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.”
