Sh'mu'el Alef (1 Sa) 6
6
1The ark of Adonai was in the country of the P’lishtim for seven months. 2The P’lishtim summoned the priests and soothsayers and asked them, “What are we to do with the ark of Adonai? Tell us how to send it back where it belongs.” 3They said, “If you do send off the ark of the God of Isra’el, don’t send it back empty, but return it with some sort of guilt offering for him. Then you will be cured, and you will learn why he has not stopped oppressing you.” 4They asked, “What kind of guilt offering should we send him?” and they replied, “Five gold models of tumors and five gold rats, because that’s how many leaders the P’lishtim have, and you and your leaders all had the same illness. 5So make models of your tumors and models of your rats that are infesting your land, and show respect to the God of Isra’el. Maybe he will stop oppressing you, your gods and your land. 6Why be obstinate like the Egyptians and Pharaoh were? When he had done his work among them, didn’t they let the people go? — and they left. 7Now take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk-cows that have never been under a yoke. Harness the cows to the cart, but put their calves back in the shed. 8Then take the ark of Adonai and lay it on the cart. In a box next to it, put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Then send it away to go off by itself, 9but watch to see if it goes up the road to Beit-Shemesh in its own territory. If it does, he is responsible for this great tragedy; if not, we will know that it is not his oppression which has been over us, but that what has been happening to us has been only by chance.”
10The men did it. They took two milk-cows, harnessed them to the cart and confined their calves to the shed. 11Then they put the ark on the cart, along with the box containing the gold rats and the models of their tumors. 12The cows made straight for the road to Beit-Shemesh and took that route, mooing as they went and turning off neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the P’lishtim followed them as far as the border of Beit-Shemesh.
13The people of Beit-Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley when they looked up and saw the ark. They were so happy to see it! 14The cart entered the field of Y’hoshua the Beit-Shimshi and stood there by a big rock. They cut up the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to Adonai. 15Then the L’vi’im removed the ark of Adonai and the box that was with it, which contained the gold objects, and put them on the big rock. That same day the men of Beit-Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifices to Adonai. 16Upon seeing this, the five leaders of the P’lishtim returned that day to ‘Ekron.
17The gold tumors which the P’lishtim sent back as a guilt offering for Adonai were one each for Ashdod, ‘Azah, Ashkelon, Gat and ‘Ekron; 18and the gold rats also corresponded to the number of all the cities of the P’lishtim that belonged to the five leaders — fortified cities and country villages. [The rock] is a witness to this day of the great mourning [which resulted from] putting the ark of Adonai on it in the field of Y’hoshua the Beit-Shimshi; 19for [Adonai] struck the people of Beit-Shemesh for looking at the ark of Adonai. He killed 50,070 of the people; the people mourned because Adonai had struck them with such a terrible slaughter. 20The people of Beit-Shemesh asked, “Who can stand before Adonai, this holy God? To whom can we send it, to get it away from us?”
21They sent messengers to the people living in Kiryat-Ye‘arim with this message: “The P’lishtim have returned the ark of Adonai. Come down and bring it back up with you.”
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Sh'mu'el Alef (1 Sa) 6: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible1 Samuel 6
6
The Return of the Covenant Box
1After the Lord's Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months, 2the people called the priests and the magicians and asked, “What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the Lord? If we send it back where it belongs, what shall we send with it?”
3They answered, “If you return the Covenant Box of the God of Israel, you must, of course, send with it a gift to him to pay for your sin. The Covenant Box must not go back without a gift. In this way you will be healed, and you will find out why he has kept on punishing you.”
4“What gift shall we send him?” the people asked.
They answered, “Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings. 5You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country, and you must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land. 6Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were? Don't forget how God made fools of them until they let the Israelites leave Egypt. 7So prepare a new wagon and two cows that have never been yoked; hitch them to the wagon and drive their calves back to the barn. 8Take the Lord's Covenant Box, put it on the wagon, and place in a box beside it the gold models that you are sending to him as a gift to pay for your sins. Start the wagon on its way and let it go by itself. 9Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn't, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance.”
10They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn. 11They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors. 12The cows started off on the road to Beth Shemesh and headed straight toward it, without turning off the road. They were mooing as they went. The five Philistine kings followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping wheat in the valley, when suddenly they looked up and saw the Covenant Box. They were overjoyed at the sight. 14The wagon came to a field belonging to a man named Joshua, who lived in Beth Shemesh, and it stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the wooden wagon and killed the cows and burned them as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. 15The Levites lifted off the Covenant Box of the Lord and the box with the gold models in it, and placed them on the large rock. Then the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt sacrifices and other sacrifices to the Lord. 16The five Philistine kings watched them do this and then went back to Ekron that same day.
17The Philistines sent the five gold tumors to the Lord as a gift to pay for their sins, one each for the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18They also sent gold mice, one for each of the cities ruled by the five Philistine kings, both the fortified towns and the villages without walls. The large rock in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, on which they placed the Lord's Covenant Box, is still there as a witness to what happened.
19The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.
The Covenant Box at Kiriath Jearim
20So the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Where can we send him to get him away from us?” 21They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, “The Philistines have returned the Lord's Covenant Box. Come down and get it.”
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