1 Samuel 6
6
The Philistines Return the Ark to Israel
1The ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory for seven months. 2The Philistines called for the priests and for those who practice evil magic. They wanted their advice. They said to them, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, don’t send it back to him without a gift. Be sure you send a guilt offering to their god along with it. Then you will be healed. You will find out why his power has continued to be against you.”
4The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
Their advisers replied, “There are five Philistine rulers. So send five gold rats. Also send five gold models of the growths in your bodies. Do it because the same plague has struck you and your rulers alike. 5Make models of the rats and the growths that are destroying the country. Give honor to Israel’s god. Then perhaps his power will no longer be against you, your gods and your land. 6Why are you stubborn, as Pharaoh and the people of Egypt were? Israel’s god was very hard on them. Only then did they send the Israelites out. Only then did they let them go on their way.
7“Now then, get a new cart ready. Get two cows that have just had calves. Be sure the cows have never pulled a cart before. Tie the cart to them. But take their calves away and put them in a pen. 8Then put the ark of the Lord on the cart. Put the gold models in a chest beside the ark. Send them back to the Lord as a guilt offering. Send the cart on its way. 9But keep an eye on the cart. See if it goes up toward Beth Shemesh to its own territory. If it does, then it’s the Lord who has brought this horrible trouble on us. But if it doesn’t, then we’ll know it wasn’t his hand that struck us. We’ll know it happened to us by chance.”
10So that’s what they did. They took the two cows and tied the cart to them. They put the calves in a pen. 11They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart. They put the chest there along with it. The chest held the gold models of the rats and of the growths. 12Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh. They stayed on the road. They were mooing all the way. They didn’t turn to the right or the left. The Philistine rulers followed them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13The people of Beth Shemesh were working in the valley. They were gathering their wheat crop. They looked up and saw the ark. When they saw it, they were filled with joy. 14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. It stopped there beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood the cart was made out of. They sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15Some Levites had taken the ark of the Lord off the cart. They had also taken off the chest that held the gold models. They placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings to the Lord. They also made sacrifices to him. 16The five Philistine rulers saw everything that happened. On that same day they returned to Ekron.
17The Philistines sent gold models of growths as a guilt offering to the Lord. There was one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 18They also sent five gold models of rats. There was one for each of the Philistine towns that belonged to the five rulers. Each of those towns had high walls around it. The towns also had country villages around them. The Levites set the ark of the Lord on the large rock. To this day the rock is a witness to what happened there. It’s in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19But some of the people of Beth Shemesh looked into the ark of the Lord. So he struck them down. He put 70 of them to death. The rest of the people were filled with sorrow. That’s because the Lord had killed so many of them. 20The people of Beth Shemesh said, “The Lord is a holy God. Who can stand in front of him? Where can the ark go up to from here?”
21Then messengers were sent to the people of Kiriath Jearim. The messengers said, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”
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1 Samuel 6: NIrV
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Shmuel Alef 6
6
1And the Aron Hashem was in the territory of the Pelishtim (Philistines) shivah chodashim.
2And the Pelishtim (Philistines) called for the#6:2 Dagon kohanim and the kosemim (sorcerers), saying, What shall we do with the Aron Hashem? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to its makom (place).
3And they said, If ye send away the Aron Elohei Yisroel, send it not away empty; but ye shall surely return to Him an asham (trespass offering); then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why His Yad is not removed from you.
4Then they said, What shall be the asham (trespass offering) which we shall return to Him? They answered, Five techorim of zahav, and five akhbarim (rats) of zahav, according to the number of rulers of the Pelishtim: for one magefah (plague) was on you all, and on your rulers.
5So ye shall make tzalmei techorim (likenesses of tumors) of yours, and tzalmei akhabarim (likenesses of rats) of yours, of that which mar the land; and ye shall give kavod unto Elohei Yisroel; perhaps He will lighten His Yad from off you, and from off eloheichem (your g-ds), and from off your land.
6Now then why do ye harden levavchem, as the Mitzrayim and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not send them away, so that they departed?
7Now therefore make an agalah chadashah (new cart, wagon), and take two milch#6:7 milk-yielding cows,#6:7 i.e., nursing cows on which there hath come no ol (yoke), and hitch the cows to the agalah, and take their calves home, away from them;
8And take the Aron Hashem, and lay it upon the agalah; and put the kelei hazahav, which ye send back to Him for an asham (trespass offering), in a box by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
9And see: if it#6:9 the Aron Hashem goeth up by the derech of its own territory#6:9 i.e., Eretz Yisroel toward Beit-Shemesh, then He hath done us this ra'ah hagedolah (great disaster); but if not, then we shall know that it is not His Yad that struck us; the evil came upon us mikreh (by chance, by accident).
10And the anashim did so; and took two milch cows, and hitched them to the agalah, and penned up their calves babayit;
11And they laid the Aron Hashem upon the agalah, and the box with the akhbarim of zahav and the tzalmei techorim (likenesses of tumors) of theirs.
12And the cows took the straight derech to the derech Beit-Shemesh, and went along the path, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the yamin or to the semol; and the rulers of the Pelishtim went after them as far as the border of Beit-Shemesh.
13And they of Beit-Shemesh were kotzerim (harvesting) their ketzir chittim (wheat harvest) in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the Aron, and they rejoiced to see it.
14And the agalah came into the sadeh of Yehoshua, a man of Beit-Shemesh, and stopped there, where there was an even gedolah (a large rock); and they chopped up the wood of the agalah, and offered the cows as an olah (burnt offering) unto Hashem.
15And the Levi'im took down the Aron Hashem, and the box that was with it, wherein were the kelei zahav, and put them on the even hagedolah (large rock); and the anashim of Beit-Shemesh offered olot (burnt offerings) and sacrificed zevakhim (sacrifices) on that day unto Hashem.
16And when the five rulers of the Pelishtim saw it, they returned to Ekron on that same day.
17And these are the techorim (tumors) of zahav which the Pelishtim (Philistines) returned for an asham (trespass offering) unto Hashem; for Ashdod one, for Azah (Gaza) one, for Ashkelon one, for Gat one, for Ekron one;
18And the akhbarim of zahav, according to the mispar of all the towns of the Pelishtim (Philistines) belonging to the five rulers, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even unto Avel HaGedolah, whereon they set down the Aron Hashem; it [the even hagedolah]#6:18 See verse 15 remaineth unto this day in the sadeh of Yehoshua, the man of Beit-Shemesh.
19And He struck down the anashim of Beit-Shemesh, because they had looked into the Aron Hashem,#6:19 Num 4:20 even He struck down of HaAm shivim ish;#6:19 and chamishim elef ish and HaAm mourned, because Hashem had struck down many of HaAm with a makkah gedolah (a great stroke, blow).
20And the anashim of Beit-Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Hashem HaElohim HaKadosh Hazeh (Hashemthis holy G-d)? And to whom shall He#6:20 Hashem dwelling with the Aron Hashem go up from us?
21And they sent malachim to the inhabitants of Kiryat-Ye'arim saying, The Pelishtim (Philistines) have returned the Aron Hashem; come ye down, and take it up to you.
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