1 Samuel 6
1 And the ark of the Lord was in the fields 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
And they say, What [is] the offering for the plague [which] we shall return to it? and they said,
5 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.
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 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?
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 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:
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 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.
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 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.
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 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:
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 placed the ark of the Lord in the wagon, and the casket with the mice of gold and images of their hemorrhoids.
And they set the ark of the Lord, and the coffer, and the golden mice, on the waggon.
12 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to 'Ekron on the same day.
And the five lords of the Philistines saw, and returned to Ascalon in that day.
17 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 the Lord, this holy God? and to whom shall it go up away 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 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.
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.
