1 Samuel 6

Wycliffe Bible

6 Therefore the ark of the Lord was in the country of [the] Philistines (for) seven months;

² and after these things the Philistines called together [the] priests and false diviners, and said, What shall we do of the ark of God? Show ye to us, how we shall send it into his place. (and after these things the Philistines called together the priests and the false diviners, and asked, What shall we do with the Ark of God? Tell us how we should send it back to its own place?)

³ Which said, If ye send again the ark of God of Israel, do not ye deliver it void, but yield ye to him that thing, that ye owe for [the] sin; and then ye shall be healed, and ye shall know, why his hand goeth not away from you. (Who said, If ye return the Ark of the God of Israel, do not ye send it back without a gift, but send ye it back with what ye owe for your sin; and then ye shall be healed, and ye shall know why his hand goeth not away from you now.)

⁴ And they said, What is it, that we ought to yield to him for (the) trespass? And they answered to them, By the number of the provinces of (the) Philistines, ye shall make five golden arses, and five golden mice; for one vengeance was to all (of) you, and to your wise men, either princes.

⁵ And ye shall make the likeness of your arses, and the likeness of [the] mice that destroyed your land; and ye shall give glory to [the] God of Israel, if in hap he withdraw his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.

⁶ Why make ye heavy your hearts, as Egypt and Pharaoh grieved their heart(s)? Whether not after that he was smitten, then he delivered God’s people, and they went forth? (Why be ye stubborn, or stiff-necked, like Egypt and Pharaoh were stubborn, or stiff-necked? For after God had struck them, did they not let God’s people go, and they went away?)

⁷ Now therefore take ye, and make a new wain, and join ye therein two kine having calves, on which kine no yoke was put; and close ye their calves at home. (And so now take ye, and make ready a new wagon, and join ye it up to two cows who have calves, on which cows no yoke was ever put; and enclose ye their calves at home.)

⁸ And ye shall take the ark of the Lord, and ye shall set (it) in the wain; and ye shall put in a little coffer at the side of the ark the golden vessels, which ye have paid to the Lord for your trespass; and deliver ye the ark, that it go forth. (And ye shall take the Ark of the Lord, and ye shall put it on the wagon; and ye shall put the gold vessels, that ye send to the Lord for your trespass, in a small box at the side of the Ark; and then let the Ark go forth as it will.)

⁹ And ye shall behold it, and soothly if it goeth up against Bethshemesh by the way of his coasts, the Lord hath then done to you this great evil; but if it go not thither, we shall know that the hand of the Lord touched not us, but this thing hath fallen to us by hap. (And ye shall watch it, and truly if it goeth up toward Bethshemesh by the way of its coasts, then the Lord hath done this great evil to you; but if it go not there, then we shall know that the hand of the Lord did not touch us, and that this thing hath befallen to us all by happenstance, or chance.)

¹⁰ Then they did in this manner; and they took two kine that gave milk to their calves, and they joined them to the wain; and they (en)closed their calves at home.

¹¹ And they put the ark of God upon the wain, and the little coffer, (or the small box,) that had the gold mice, and the likeness of (their) arses.

¹² And the kine went straightly by the way that leadeth to Bethshemesh; and those kine went in one way going and lowing, and they bowed not neither to the right side nor to the left side; but also the wise men of Philistines followed unto the coasts of Bethshemesh (and the princes of the Philistines followed them to the border of Bethshemesh).

¹³ Forsooth (the) men of Bethshemesh reaped wheat in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and they were joyful, when they had seen it.

¹⁴ And the wain came into the field of Joshua of Bethshemesh, and stood there. And a great stone was there; and they cutted the wood of the wain, and putted the kine on that wood, (as) a burnt sacrifice to the Lord.

¹⁵ And the deacons took down the ark of God, and the little coffer that was beside it, wherein the golden vessels were; and they putted those upon the great stone. And the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt sacrifices, and offered slain sacrifices in that day to the Lord. (And the Levites took down the Ark of God, and the small box that was beside it, which held the gold vessels; and they put them on the great stone. And the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, to the Lord that day.)

¹⁶ And [the] five princes of Philistines saw, and turned again into Ekron in that day. (And the five princes of the Philistines saw it, and then returned to Ekron that day.)

¹⁷ Soothly these be the golden arses, which the Philistines yielded to the Lord for their trespass; Ashdod yielded one; Gaza one; Askelon one; Gath one; Ekron one;

¹⁸ and the Philistines yielded golden mice by the number of cities of Philistines of [the] five provinces, from a walled city unto an unwalled town, and unto the great stone that was called Abel, on which they putted the ark of the Lord, the which stone was there unto that day in the field of Joshua of Bethshemesh. (and they also gave gold mice by the number of the Philistines’ cities governed by the five princes, from a walled city unto an unwalled town. And the great stone that was called Eben, on which they put the Ark of the Lord, is there unto this day, in the field of Joshua of Bethshemesh.)

¹⁹ Forsooth the Lord smote of the men of Bethshemesh, for they had seen the ark of the Lord, and he smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the poor-all^[a]. And the people mourned, for the Lord had smitten the people with [a] great vengeance. (But the Lord struck down the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked inside the Ark of the Lord, and so he struck down seventy men of the people there. And the people mourned, for the Lord had struck down the people with such a great slaughter.)

²⁰ And men of Bethshemesh said, Who shall now stand in the sight of the Lord God of this holy thing, and to whom shall it go up from us? (And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who can now stand before the Lord, yea, this holy God, and to whom shall we send this Ark away from us?/and to whom shall he go away from us?)

²¹ And they sent messengers to the dwellers of Kiriathjearim, and said, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down, and lead it again to you. (And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriathjearim, who said, The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord; come ye down, and take it away with you.)