1 Samuel 6
1 The people of Philistia kept God’s sacred chest in their area for seven months.
Después de que el Arca del Señor estuvo en el país de los filisteos durante siete meses,
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.”
los filisteos convocaron a los sacerdotes y adivinos y les preguntaron: “¿Qué debemos hacer con el Arca del Señor? Explíquennos cómo devolverla al lugar de donde vino”.
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.”
“Si van a enviar de vuelta el Arca del Dios de Israel, no la envíen con las manos vacías, sino asegúrense de enviar junto con ella un regalo de ofrenda por la culpa para él”, respondieron. “Entonces serán sanados y entenderán por qué los ha tratado así”.
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.
“¿Qué clase de ofrenda por la culpa debemos enviarle?”, preguntaron los filisteos. “Cinco objetos de oro en forma de tumor y cinco ratas de oro que representen el número de gobernantes de los filisteos”, respondieron. “La misma plaga los atacó a ustedes y a sus gobernantes.
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.
Haz modelos que representen tus hinchazones y las ratas que destruyen el país, y honra al Dios de Israel. Tal vez deje de castigarte a ti, a tus dioses y a tu 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 ser tercos como los egipcios y el faraón? ¿Acaso cuando Dios los castigó no dejaron ir a los israelitas para seguir su camino?
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.
“Así que preparen un nuevo carro, tirado por dos vacas con crías y que nunca hayan sido uncidas. Aten las vacas al carro, pero quiten sus terneros y pónganlos en un 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.
Recojan el Arca del Señor, pónganla en el carro y coloquen los objetos de oro que envían como ofrenda por la culpa en un cofre junto a ella. Luego envíen el Arca. Dejen que se vaya por donde quiera,
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.”
pero no dejen de vigilarla. Si sube por el camino hacia su patria, hacia Bet-Semes, entonces es el Señor quien nos ha causado todo este terrible problema. Pero si no lo hace, entonces sabremos que no fue él quien nos castigó, sino que nos ocurrió 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.
Entonces el pueblo lo hizo así. Tomaron dos vacas con crías y las ataron al carro, y guardaron sus terneros en un establo.
11 They put in the cart Yahweh’s sacred chest and the box with the models of the gold rats and the tumors.
Pusieron el Arca del Señor en el carro, junto con el cofre que contenía las ratas de oro y los modelos de sus hinchazones.
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 subieron en línea recta por el camino de Bet-Semes, mugiendo mientras avanzaban, yendo directamente por el camino principal y sin girar ni a la izquierda ni a la derecha. Los jefes filisteos las siguieron hasta la frontera de Bet-Semes.
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.
Los habitantes de Bet-semes estaban cosechando trigo en el valle. Cuando levantaron la vista y vieron el Arca, se alegraron mucho 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.
El carro entró en el campo de Josué de Bet-semes y se detuvo allí junto a una gran roca. El pueblo cortó la madera del carro y sacrificaron las vacas como holocausto al Señor.
Los levitas bajaron el Arca del Señor y el cofre que contenía los objetos de oro, y los pusieron sobre la gran roca. El pueblo de Bet-semes presentó holocaustos e hizo sacrificios al Señor ese día.
16 The five kings from the Philistia area watched all this, and then they returned to Ekron, that same day.
Los cinco jefes filisteos vieron todo lo que sucedió y regresaron a Ecrón 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 cinco modelos de oro de las hinchadas enviados por los filisteos como ofrenda de culpa al Señor eran de los gobernantes de Asdod, Gaza, Ascalón, Gat y Ecrón.
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].
Las ratas de oro representaban el número de ciudades filisteas de los cinco gobernantes: las ciudades fortificadas y sus aldeas circundantes. La gran roca sobre la que colocaron el Arca del Señor sigue en pie hasta el día de hoy en el campo de Josué de Bet-semes como testigo de lo que allí ocurrió.
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 mató a algunos de los habitantes de Bet-semes porque revisaron el interior del Arca del Señor. Mató a setenta, y el pueblo se lamentó profundamente porque el Señor había matado a tantos.
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?”
El pueblo de Bet-semes preguntó: “¿Quién puede estar frente al Señor, este Dios santo? ¿Adónde debe ir el Arca de aquí en adelante?”
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!”
Entonces enviaron mensajeros al pueblo de Quiriat-jearim para decirles: “Los filisteos han devuelto el Arca del Señor. Desciendan y llévensela a casa”.
