1 Samuel 6
1 Therfor the arke of the Lord was in the cuntrei of Filisteis bi seuene monethis;
And the ark of the Lord was in the fields of the Philistines seven months.
2 and aftir these thingis Filisteis clepiden preestis and false dyuynours, and seiden, What schulen we do of the arke of God? Shewe ye to vs, hou we schulen sende it in to his place.
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? let us know wherewith we shall send off it to its place.
3 Whiche seiden, If ye senden ayen the arke of God of Israel, nyle ye delyuere it voide, but yelde ye to hym that, that ye owen for synne; and thanne ye schulen be heelid, and ye schulen wite, whi `his hond goith not awei fro you.
And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty; but ye must to a certainty return him a trespass-offering: then will ye be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
4 And thei seiden, What is it, that we owen to yelde to hym for trespas?
And they said, What shall be the trespass-offering that we shall return to him? And they answered, According to the number of the lords of the Philistines, five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice; for one plague affected them all, and your lords.
5 And thei answeriden to hem, Bi the noumbre of prouynces of Filisteis ye schulen make fyue goldun ersis, and fyue goldun myis; for o veniaunce was to alle you and to youre `wise men, ether princes. And ye schulen make the licnesse of youre ersis, and the licnesse of myis that distriede youre lond; and ye schulen yyue glorie to God of Israel, if in hap he withdrawe his hond fro you, and fro youre goddis, and fro youre lond.
Therefore make images of your hemorrhoids, and images of your mice that devastate the land; and give glory unto the God of Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6 Whi maken ye heuy youre hertis, as Egipt, and Farao `made heuy his herte? Whether not after that he was smytun, thanne he delyuerede hem, and thei yeden forth?
And why will ye harden your heart, just as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Did not they, when he had wrought wonderful deeds among them, dismiss them, and they departed?
7 Now therfor take ye, and make o newe wayn, and ioyne ye twei kien hauynge caluys, on whiche kyen no yok was put; and close ye her calues at hoome.
And now make a new wagon, and take two milch-cows, on which there hath come no yoke, and harness the cows to the wagon, and bring their calves home away from them:
8 And ye schulen take the arke of the Lord, and ye schulen sette in the wayn; and ye schulen put in a panyere at the side therof the goldun vessels, whiche ye payeden to hym for trespas; and delyuere ye the arke, that it go.
And take the ark of the Lord, and place it into the wagon; and the articles of gold, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, ye must put in a casket alongside of it; and then send it away, that it may go.
9 And ye schulen biholde, and sotheli if it stieth ayens Bethsames bi the weie of `hise coostis, `he dide to you this greet yuel; but if nay, we schulen wite `for his hond touchide not vs, but `if it bifelde bi hap.
And then see, if it go up by the way to its own boundary, to Beth-shemesh, then hath he done us this great evil; but if not, then shall we know that not his hand hath smitten us; it is a chance which hath happened to us.
10 Therfor thei diden in this manere; and thei token twei kien that yauen mylk to caluys, and ioyneden to the wayn; and thei closiden her caluys at hoome.
And the men did so; and they took two milch-cows, and harnessed them to the wagon, and their calves they shut up at home:
11 And thei puttiden the arke of God on the wayn, and `thei puttiden the panyere, that hadde the goldun myis, and the licnesse of ersis `on the wayn.
And they placed the ark of the Lord in the wagon, and the casket with the mice of gold and images of their hemorrhoids.
12 Sotheli the kien yeden streiytli bi the weie that ledith to Bethsames; and tho yeden in o weie goynge and lowynge, and bowiden not nether to the riyt side nether to the left side; but also the wise men of Filisteis sueden `til to the termes of Bethsames.
And the cows went straight forward on the way on the road to Beth-shemesh: on one highway they did go along, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.
13 Forsothe men of Bethsames repiden whete in the valey, and thei reisiden the iyen, and sien the arke, and thei weren ioyful, whanne thei hadden sien `the arke.
And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and when they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it.
14 And the wayn cam in to the feelde of Josue of Bethsames, and stood there. Forsothe a greet stoon was there; and thei kittiden `the trees of the wayn, and puttiden the kien `on tho trees, a brent sacrifice to the Lord.
And the wagon came to the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemite, and stood still there; and there was a great stone; and they split the wood of the wagon, and the cows they offered as a burnt-offering unto the Lord.
15 Sotheli dekenes token doun the arke of God, and the panyere, that was bisidis it, where ynne the goldun vessels weren; and thei settiden on the greet stoon. Forsothe the men of Bethsames offriden brent sacrifices, and offriden slayn sacrifices in that dai `to the Lord.
And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the casket that was with it, wherein were the articles of gold, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered bunt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on the same day unto the Lord.
16 And fyue princes of Filisteis sien, and turneden ayen in to Accoron in that dai.
And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to 'Ekron on the same day.
17 Sotheli these ben the goldun ersis, whiche the Filisteis yeldiden to the Lord for trespas; Azotus yeldide oon; Gaza yeldide oon; Ascolon yeldide oon; Geth yeldide oon; Accaron yeldide oon;
And these are the golden hemorrhoids which the Philistines returned as a trespass-offering unto the Lord: For Ashdod one, for Gazzah one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for 'Ekron one.
18 and Filisteis yeldiden golden myis bi the noumbre of `citees of Filisteis of fyue prouynces, fro a wallid citee `til to `a town that was with out wal, and `til to the greet Abel, `on which thei puttiden the arke of the Lord, that was there `til in that dai in the feeld of Josue of Bethsames.
And the golden mice were according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines under the five lords, from the fortified city, down to the open village, even unto the great stone whereon they had set down the ark of the Lord, and which is unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemite.
19 Forsothe the Lord smoot of the men of Bethsames, for thei hadden seyn the arke of the Lord, and he smoot of the puple seuenti men, and fifty thousynde of the porail. And the puple morenyde, for the Lord hadde smyte `the puple with greet veniaunce.
And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, namely, he smote among the people seventy men and fifty thousand men: and the people mourned because the Lord had caused among the people a great slaughter.
20 And men of Bethsames seiden, Who schal now stonde in the siyt of the Lord God of this hooli thing, and to whom schal it stie fro vs?
And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom shall it go up away from us?
21 And thei senten messangeris to the dwelleris of Cariathiarym, and seiden, Filisteis han brouyt ayen the arke of the Lord; come ye doun, and lede it ayen to you.
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiryath-ye'arim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord: come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
