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.”
Currently Selected:
1 Samuel 6: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Samuel 6
6
The Return of the Ark
1When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, 2the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners # Gn 41:8; Ex 7:11; Is 2:6 and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”
3They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering. # Dt 16:16 You must send back a restitution offering to Him, # Lv 5:15-16 and you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.” # DSS, LXX read healed, and an atonement shall be made for you. Shouldn’t His hand be removed from you?
4They asked, “What restitution offering should we send back to Him? ”
And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice # 1Sm 5:6,9,12; 6:17 corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, # Jos 13:3; Jdg 3:3; 1Sm 6:17-18 since there was one plague for both you # Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read them and your rulers. 5Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, # Jos 7:19; Is 42:2 and perhaps He will stop oppressing you, # Lit will lighten the heaviness of His hand from you # 1Sm 5:6,11 your gods, and your land. # 1Sm 5:3-4,7 6Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? # Ex 8:15,32; 9:34 When He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left? # Ex 4:21; 12:31
7“Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. # Nm 19:2 Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box # 1Sm 6:4-5 beside the ark. # 1Sm 6:3 Send it off and let it go its way. 9Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, # Jos 15:10 it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished # 1Sm 6:3 us — it was just something that happened to us by chance.”
10The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. # 1Sm 6:9 They stayed on that one highway, # Nm 20:19 lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. # 1Kg 19:21 15The Levites # Nm 4:1-33 removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16When the five Philistine rulers # Jos 13:3 observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17As a restitution offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: # 1Sm 6:4 Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. # Dt 3:5 The large rock # Some Hb mss, DSS, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read meadow # 1Sm 6:14-15 on which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.
19God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. # LXX reads But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Lord. # Nm 4:15-20; 2Sm 6:7 He struck down 70 men out of 50,000 men. # Some Hb mss, Josephus read 70 men ; other Hb mss read 50,070 men The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of this holy Lord God? # Nm 17:13; Ps 76:7; Ezk 44:9-16 Who should the ark go to from here? ”
21They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, # Jos 9:17; 15:9,60 saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.” # Lit and bring it up to you
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.