1 Samuel 6
6
The Ark Returned to Israel
1The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2And the Philistines called for the priests and #Deut. 18:10; [Gen. 41:8; Ex. 7:11; Dan. 2:2; 5:7]the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him #[Lev. 5:15, 16] a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why #ver. 9his hand does not turn away from you.” 4And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden #ch. 5:6, 9, 12 tumors and five golden mice, #ver. 17, 18; Josh. 13:3; Judg. 3:3according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5So you must make images of your #[See ver. 4 above] tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, #[Josh. 7:19] and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps #[ch. 5:6, 9, 11] he will lighten his hand from off you #ch. 5:3, 4, 7and your gods and your land. 6Why should you harden your hearts as #[Ex. 14:17] the Egyptians and #Ex. 8:15, 32; [Ex. 7:13; 9:7, 35; 10:1] Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, #Ex. 12:31did they not send the people away, and they departed? 7Now then, take and prepare #[2 Sam. 6:3] a new cart and two milk cows #[Num. 19:2]on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side #ver. 4, 5 the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as #[See ver. 3 above]a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to #Josh. 15:10 Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not #ver. 3his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”
10The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12And the cows went straight in the direction of #Josh. 21:16 Beth-shemesh along #Num. 20:19one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of #Josh. 21:16 Beth-shemesh. 13Now the people of #[See ver. 12 above]Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. #ver. 18A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon #[See ver. 14 above] the great stone. And the men of #[See ver. 12 above]Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16And when #See ver. 4the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.
17These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a #ver. 3, 8guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, #[Deut. 3:5] both fortified cities and unwalled villages. #ver. 14, 15The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19 # [Ex. 19:21; Num. 4:15, 20; 2 Sam. 6:7] And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them,#6:19 Most Hebrew manuscripts struck of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. 20Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, #[2 Sam. 6:9]“Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of #1 Chr. 13:5, 6; [Josh. 9:17; 18:14]Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”
Currently Selected:
1 Samuel 6: ESV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV:
1 Samuel 6
6
1After the sacred chest had been in Philistia for seven months,#6.1 months: One ancient translation adds “and rats were everywhere” or “and rats ate the crops.” 2the Philistines called in their priests and fortunetellers, and asked, “What should we do with this sacred chest? Tell us how to send it back where it belongs!”
3“Don't send it back without a gift,” the priests and fortunetellers answered. “Send along something to Israel's God to make up for taking the chest in the first place. Then you will be healed, and you will find out why the Lord was causing you so much trouble.”
4“What should we send?” the Philistines asked.
The priests and fortunetellers answered:
There are five Philistine rulers, and they all have the same disease that you have. 5So make five gold models of the sores and five gold models of the rats that are wiping out your crops. If you honor the God of Israel with this gift, maybe he will stop causing trouble for you and your gods and your crops. 6Don't be like the Egyptians and their king. They were stubborn, but when Israel's God was finished with them, they had to let Israel go.
7Get a new cart and two cows that have young calves and that have never pulled a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take the calves back to their barn. 8Then put the chest on the cart. Put the gold rats and sores into a bag and put it on the cart next to the chest. Then send it on its way.
9Watch to see if the chest goes on up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-Shemesh. If it goes back to its own country, you will know that it was the Lord who made us suffer so badly. But if the chest doesn't go back to its own country, then the Lord had nothing to do with the disease that hit us—it was simply bad luck.
10The Philistines followed their advice. They hitched up the two cows to the cart, but they kept their calves in a barn. 11Then they put the chest on the cart, along with the bag that had the gold rats and sores in it.
12The cows went straight up the road toward Beth-Shemesh, mooing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them until they got close to Beth-Shemesh.
13The people of Beth-Shemesh were harvesting their wheat#6.13 wheat: The wheat harvest took place in May and June. in the valley. When they looked up and saw the chest, they were so happy that they stopped working and started celebrating.
14-15The cows left the road and pulled the cart into a field that belonged to Joshua from Beth-Shemesh, and they stopped beside a huge rock. Some men from the tribe of Levi were there. So they took the chest off the cart and placed it on the rock, and then they did the same thing with the bag of gold rats and sores. A few other people chopped up the cart and made a fire. They killed the cows and burned them as sacrifices to the Lord. After that, they offered more sacrifices.
16When the five rulers of the Philistines saw what had happened, they went back to Ekron that same day.
17That is how the Philistines sent gifts to the Lord to make up for taking the sacred chest. They sent five gold sores, one each for their towns of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18They also sent one gold rat for each walled town and for every village that the five Philistine rulers controlled. The huge stone#6.18 stone: A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts “meadow” or “stream.” where the Levites set the chest is still there in Joshua's field as a reminder of what happened.
The Sacred Chest Is Sent to Kiriath-Jearim
19Some of the men of Beth-Shemesh looked inside the sacred chest, and the Lord God killed 70#6.19 70: A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts “70 men, 50,000 men.” of them. This made the people of Beth-Shemesh very sad, 20and they started saying, “No other God is like the Lord! Who can go near him and stay alive? We'll have to send the chest away from here. But where can we send it?”
21They sent messengers to tell the people of Kiriath-Jearim, “The Philistines have sent back the sacred chest. Why don't you take it and keep it there with you?”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.