1 Samuel 6
1 The people of Philistia kept God’s sacred chest in their area for seven months.
Después de estar el Arca de Yahvé siete meses en el país de los filisteos,
2 Then they summoned their priests and their (diviners/men who practice rituals to find out what would happen in the future). They asked them, “What should we do with the sacred chest of Yahweh? Tell us how we should send it back to its own land.”
llamaron los filisteos a los sacerdotes y adivinos y les preguntaron: “¿Qué haremos con el Arca de Yahvé? Decidnos en qué forma la hemos de devolver a su lugar.”
3 Those men replied, “Send with it an offering [to show Yahweh that you know that you are] guilty [for having captured the chest], in order that the plague will stop. If you do that, and then if you are healed, you will know that Yahweh is the one who caused you to experience the plague.”
A lo que respondieron: “Si devolvéis el Arca del Dios de Israel, no la devolváis vacía, sino pagadle una ofrenda por la culpa. Entonces sanaréis, y conoceréis por qué motivo su castigo no se ha apartado de vosotros.”
4 The people of Philistia asked, “What kind of offering should we send?” The men replied, “Make five gold models of the tumors on your skin, and five gold models of rats. Make five of each because that is the same number as the number of your kings, and because the plague has struck both you people and your five kings.
Y cuando preguntaron: “¿Qué hemos de pagarle por la culpa?”, contestaron: “Cinco tumores de oro y cinco ratones de oro según el número de los príncipes de los filisteos, porque una misma plaga ha descargado sobre todos vosotros y sobre vuestros príncipes.
5 Make models that represent the rats and the tumors that are ruining your land. Make them in order to honor the god of the Israeli people. If you do that, perhaps he will stop punishing [IDM] you, and your gods, and your land.
Haced, pues, figuras de vuestros tumores y figuras de vuestros ratones, que han asolado el país, y dad gloria al Dios de Israel; quizás su mano pese menos sobre vosotros, sobre vuestros dioses y vuestra tierra.
6 Do not be [RHQ] stubborn [IDM] like the Egyptians and their king were. [They did not do what the Israelis’ god told them to do, so he punished them]. After the Israelis’ god finished punishing them very severely, they were glad to allow the Israelis to leave their country [RHQ].
¿Por qué queréis endurecer vuestro corazón, como endurecieron el suyo los egipcios y el Faraón? ¿No los castigó Él tan terriblemente que por fin soltaron (a los israelitas) y estos se fueron?
7 “So you must build a new cart. Then get two cows that have very recently given birth to calves. They must be cows that have never been hitched to a cart [MTY]. Hitch those cows to the new cart, and take the calves away from their mothers.
Haced ahora un carro nuevo, y tomando dos vacas recién paridas, sobre las cuales nunca se haya puesto el yugo; uncid las vacas al carro y apartad de ellas sus terneros, encerrándolos en el establo.
8 Put the Israelis’ god’s sacred chest on the cart. Also put in the cart the five gold models of the tumors on your skin and the five gold models of rats. Put them in a small box alongside the sacred chest. They will be an offering to show that you know that you deserved to be punished [for capturing the sacred chest]. Then send [the cows] down the road, [pulling] the cart.
Tomad después el Arca de Yahvé y colocadla sobre el carro. Al lado de ella, en un cofre, pondréis las joyas de oro que le pagaréis como ofrenda por la culpa. Luego dejadla que se vaya.
9 [Watch the cart as the cows pull it]. If they pull it to Beth-Shemesh [town] in Israel, we will know that it was the Israelis’ god who caused us to experience this plague. But if they do not take it there, we will know that it was not the god [MTY] of the Israelis who has punished us. We will know that it just happened.”
Y observad bien: si sube en dirección a su propio territorio, hacia Betsemes, es Él que nos ha hecho este gran mal; pero si no, sabremos que no es su mano la que nos ha herido, sino que esto nos ha sucedido por casualidad.”
10 So the people did what the priests and men who predicted what would happen in the future told them to do. They [made] a cart [and] hitched two cows to it. They took the calves from their mothers.
Lo hicieron así; tomaron dos vacas recién paridas, las uncieron al carro y encerraron sus terneros en el establo.
11 They put in the cart Yahweh’s sacred chest and the box with the models of the gold rats and the tumors.
Sobre el carro colocaron el Arca de Yahvé y el cofre con los ratones de oro y las figuras de sus tumores.
12 Then the cows started walking, and they went straight toward Beth-Shemesh. They stayed on the road, and were mooing all the time. They did not turn to the left or to the right. The five kings of the Philistia area followed the cows until they reached the edge of Beth-Shemesh.
Las vacas tomaron rectamente el camino de Betsemes, y siguiendo ese mismo camino marcharon mugiendo, sin apartarse ni a la derecha ni a la izquierda. Los príncipes de los filisteos fueron tras ellas hasta la frontera de Betsemes.
13 At that time, the people of Beth-Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley [outside the city]. [When the cows came along the road], they looked up and saw the sacred chest. They were extremely happy to see it.
Estaba la gente de Betsemes en el valle segando el trigo, y alzando los ojos vieron el Arca y se alegraron de verla.
14 The cows pulled the cart into the field of a man named Joshua, and they stopped alongside a large rock. Several men from the tribe of Levi lifted from the cart the sacred chest and the box containing the gold models of the rats and the tumors, and they put them all on the large rock. Then the people smashed the cart and kindled a fire with the wood [from which the cart had been made]. They slaughtered the cows and burned their bodies/carcasses on the fire to be an offering for Yahweh that would be completely burned. That day the people of Beth-Shemesh offered to Yahweh [many] sacrifices that were completely burned, and [other] sacrifices.
Llegó el carro al campo de Josué betsemesita, donde se paró. Había allí una gran piedra, y haciendo pedazos la madera del carro ofrecieron las vacas en holocausto a Yahvé.
Luego los levitas bajaron el Arca de Yahvé, y el cofre que estaba al lado y que contenía las joyas de oro; y la pusieron sobre aquella gran piedra; y los hombres de Betsemes ofrecieron aquel día holocaustos y sacrificios a Yahvé.
16 The five kings from the Philistia area watched all this, and then they returned to Ekron, that same day.
Cuando vieron esto los cinco príncipes de los filisteos, se volvieron a Acarón ese mismo día.
17 The five gold models of tumors that they sent to be an offering to Yahweh to show that they knew that they deserved to be punished were gifts from [those five kings who were rulers of] Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron [cities].
Los tumores de oro que los filisteos dieron a Yahvé, como ofrenda por la culpa, son estos: de Azoto, uno; de Ascalón, uno; de Gat, uno; de Acarón, uno.
18 The models of the five gold rats were gifts from the people of those five cities and the surrounding towns. The large rock at Beth-Shemesh, on which the [men of the tribe of Levi] set the sacred chest, is still there in the field that belonged to Joshua. When people see it, they remember [what happened there].
También los ratones de oro eran según el número de todas las ciudades de los filisteos, pertenecientes a los cinco príncipes, desde las ciudades fortificadas hasta las aldeas de la gente del campo. Testigo de ello es hasta hoy día la gran piedra, en el campo de Josué betsemesita, donde depusieron el Arca de Yahvé.
19 But seventy men from Beth-Shemesh looked into Yahweh’s sacred chest, and because of that, Yahweh caused them to die. Then the people mourned very much because Yahweh punished [IDM] those men like that.
Pero (Dios) castigó a los hombres de Betsemes, por haber ellos mirado el Arca de Yahvé; e hirió del pueblo a setenta hombres. Entonces el pueblo hizo gran duelo, porque Yahvé había causado entre el pueblo estrago tan grande.
20 They said, “No one [RHQ] can (resist the power of/stand in the presence of) Yahweh, our holy God, [and remain alive]! Where can we send the sacred chest?”
Por lo cual dijeron los hombres de Betsemes: “¿Quién puede estar en la presencia de Yahvé, este Dios tan santo? ¿Y hacia quién subirá al salir de nosotros?”
21 They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-Jearim [city] to tell them, “The people of Philistia have returned Yahweh’s sacred chest to us! Come here and take it away!”
Enviaron, pues, mensajeros a los habitantes de Kiryatyearim, diciendo: “Los filisteos han devuelto el Arca de Yahvé; bajad y llevadla con vosotros.”
