I Samuelis 6
1 fuit ergo arca Domini in regione Philisthinorum septem mensibus
The people of Philistia kept God’s sacred chest in their area for seven months.
2 et vocaverunt Philisthim sacerdotes et divinos dicentes quid faciemus de arca Dei indicate nobis quomodo remittemus eam in locum suum qui dixerunt
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.”
3 si remittitis arcam Dei Israhel nolite dimittere eam vacuam sed quod debetis reddite ei pro peccato et tunc curabimini et scietis quare non recedat manus eius a vobis
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.”
4 qui dixerunt quid est quod pro delicto reddere debeamus ei responderuntque illi
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.
5 iuxta numerum provinciarum Philisthim quinque anos aureos facietis et quinque mures aureos quia plaga una fuit omnibus vobis et satrapis vestris facietisque similitudines anorum vestrorum et similitudines murium qui demoliti sunt terram et dabitis Deo Israhel gloriam si forte relevet manum suam a vobis et a diis vestris et a terra vestra
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.
6 quare gravatis corda vestra sicut adgravavit Aegyptus et Pharao cor suum nonne postquam percussus est tunc dimisit eos et abierunt
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].
7 nunc ergo arripite et facite plaustrum novum unum et duas vaccas fetas quibus non est inpositum iugum iungite in plaustro et recludite vitulos earum domi
“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.
8 tolletisque arcam Domini et ponetis in plaustro et vasa aurea quae exsolvistis ei pro delicto ponetis in capsella ad latus eius et dimittite eam ut vadat
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.
9 et aspicietis et si quidem per viam finium suorum ascenderit contra Bethsames ipse fecit nobis malum hoc grande sin autem minime sciemus quia nequaquam manus eius tetigit nos sed casu accidit
[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.”
10 fecerunt ergo illi hoc modo et tollentes duas vaccas quae lactabant vitulos iunxerunt ad plaustrum vitulosque earum concluserunt domi
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.
11 et posuerunt arcam Dei super plaustrum et capsellam quae habebat mures aureos et similitudinem anorum
They put in the cart Yahweh’s sacred chest and the box with the models of the gold rats and the tumors.
12 ibant autem in directum vaccae per viam quae ducit Bethsames et itinere uno gradiebantur pergentes et mugientes et non declinabant neque ad dextram neque ad sinistram sed et satrapae Philisthinorum sequebantur usque ad terminos Bethsames
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.
13 porro Bethsamitae metebant triticum in valle et elevantes oculos viderunt arcam et gavisi sunt cum vidissent
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.
14 et plaustrum venit in agrum Iosue Bethsamitae et stetit ibi erat autem ibi lapis magnus et conciderunt ligna plaustri vaccasque inposuerunt super ea holocaustum Domino
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.
15 Levitae autem deposuerunt arcam Dei et capsellam quae erat iuxta eam in qua erant vasa aurea et posuerunt super lapidem grandem viri autem bethsamitae obtulerunt holocausta et immolaverunt victimas in die illa Domino
16 et quinque satrapae Philisthinorum viderunt et reversi sunt in Accaron in die illa
The five kings from the Philistia area watched all this, and then they returned to Ekron, that same day.
17 hii sunt autem ani aurei quos reddiderunt Philisthim pro delicto Domino Azotus unum Gaza unum Ascalon unum Geth unum Accaron unum
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].
18 et mures aureos secundum numerum urbium Philisthim quinque provinciarum ab urbe murata usque ad villam quae erat absque muro et usque ad Abel magnum super quem posuerunt arcam Domini quae erat usque in illa die in agro Iosue Bethsamitis
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].
19 percussit autem de viris bethsamitibus eo quod vidissent arcam Domini et percussit de populo septuaginta viros et quinquaginta milia plebis luxitque populus quod percussisset Dominus plebem plaga magna
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.
20 et dixerunt viri bethsamitae quis poterit stare in conspectu Domini Dei sancti huius et ad quem ascendet a nobis
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?”
21 miseruntque nuntios ad habitatores Cariathiarim dicentes reduxerunt Philisthim arcam Domini descendite et ducite eam ad vos
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!”
