1 Samuel 6
1 Therfor the arke of the Lord was in the cuntrei of Filisteis bi seuene monethis;
And the ark of Jehovah was in the country 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 Jehovah? tell us wherewith we shall send 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 empty; ye must at any rate return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall 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?
Then they said, What is the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague is upon them all, and upon 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.
And ye shall make images of your hemorrhoids, and images of your mice that destroy the land, and give glory to 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, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? When he had wrought mightily among them, did they not let them go, 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 cart, and take two milch kine, on which there has come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home 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 Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, put in the coffer by the side thereof; and 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 see, if it go up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, it is he who has done us this great evil; if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that touched us; it was a chance [that] 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 took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves 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 laid the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer with the golden mice and the images of their sores.
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 kine went straight forward on the way to Beth-shemesh; they went by the one high way, lowing as they went; and they turned not aside to the right hand 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 the wheat-harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and 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 cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite, and stood there; and a great stone was there. And they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine as a burnt-offering to Jehovah.
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 Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, in which were the golden jewels, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered up burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Jehovah.
16 And fyue princes of Filisteis sien, and turneden ayen in to Accoron in that dai.
And the five lords of the Philistines saw [it], and returned to Ekron 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 sores which the Philistines returned as a trespass-offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gazah 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, [according to] the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and villages of the peasantry; [and they brought them] as far as the great [stone of] Abel, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, [which] is to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite.
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 Jehovah, and smote of the people seventy men; and the people lamented, because Jehovah had smitten the people with 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 Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up 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 Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of Jehovah; come down, fetch it up to you.
