1 Samuel 6
1 The ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
And the ark was seven months in the country of the Philistines, and their land brought forth swarms of mice.
2 The Philistines called for the priests, and for the diviners, and for the magicians, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of YHWH? Tell us how we should send it to its place."
And the Philistines call their priests, and their prophets, and their enchanters, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? teach us wherewith we shall send it away to its place.
3 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?"
And they said, If you send away the ark of the covenant of the Lord God of Israel, do not on any account send it away empty, but by all means render to it an offering for the plague; and then shall you be healed, and an atonement shall be made for you: should not his hand be [thus] stayed from off you?
4 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.
And they say, What [is] the offering for the plague [which] we shall return to it? and they said,
5 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.
According to the number of the lords of the Philistines, five golden tumors, for the plague was on you, and on your rulers, and on the people; and golden mice, the likeness of the mice that destroy your land: and you shall give glory to the Lord, that he may lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6 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?
And why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? [was it] not [so] when he mocked them, [that] they let the people go, and they departed?
7 "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;
And now take wood and make a new wagon, and take two cows, that have calved for the first time, without their calves; and do you yoke the cows to the wagon, and lead away the calves from behind them home.
8 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.
And you shall take the ark and put it on the wagon; and you shall restore to it the golden articles for the trespass-offering in a coffer by the side of it: and you shall let it go, and sent it away, and you shall depart.
9 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."
And you shall see, if it shall go the way of its coasts along by Baethsamys, he has brought upon us this great affliction; and if not, then shall we know that his hand has not touched us, but this [is a] chance [which] has happened to us.
10 The men did so, and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;
And the Philistines did so; and they took two cows that had calved for the first time, and yoked them to the waggon, and shut up their calves at home.
11 and they put the ark on the cart, and the box with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors.
And they set the ark of the Lord, and the coffer, and the golden mice, on the waggon.
12 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.
And the cows went straight on the way to the way of Baethsamys, they went along one track; and laboured, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after it as far as the coasts of Baethsamys.
13 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.
And the men of Baethsamys were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark of the Lord, and rejoiced to meet it.
14 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 YHWH.
And the waggon entered into the field of Osee, which was in Baethsamys, and they set there by it a great stone; and they split the wood of the waggon, and offered up the cows for a whole burnt offering to the Lord.
15 The Levites took down the ark of YHWH, 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 YHWH.
And the Levites brought up the ark of the Lord, and the coffer with it, and the golden articles upon it, and placed them on the great stone, and the men of Baethsamys offered whole burnt offerings and meat offerings on that day to the Lord.
16 When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
And the five lords of the Philistines saw, and returned to Ascalon in that day.
17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to YHWH: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
And these [are] the golden tumors which the lords of the Philistines gave as a trespass-offering to the Lord; for Azotus one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron one.
18 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 YHWH is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite.
And the golden mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, belonging to the five lords, from the fenced city to the village of the Pherezite, and to the great stone, on which they placed the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that was in the field of Osee the Baethsamysite.
19 But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the people of Beth Shemesh when they saw the ark of YHWH. So he struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned, because YHWH had struck the people with a great slaughter.
And the sons of Jechonias were not pleased with the men of Baethsamys, because they saw the ark of the Lord; and [the Lord] struck among them seventy men, and fifty thousand men: and the people mourned, because the Lord had inflicted on the people, a very great plague.
20 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?"
And the men of Baethsamys said, Who shall be able to pass before this holy Lord God? and to whom shall the ark of the Lord go up from us?
21 They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of YHWH; come down, and bring it up to yourselves."
And they send messengers to the inhabitants of Cariathiarim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, go down and take it home to yourselves.
