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¶ Bwat Kontra Seyè a te gen tan pase sèt mwa nan peyi Filisti a.

Moun Filisti yo fè rele prèt yo ak divinò yo. Yo mande yo: -Kisa pou n' fè ak Bwat Kontra Seyè a? Ki jan pou n' fè pou n' voye l' tounen nan plas li?

Yo reponn: -Si n'ap voye Bwat Kontra Bondye pèp Izrayèl la tounen, nou pa ka voye l' konsa san anyen. Se pou nou voye kichòy ki va sèvi pou peye pou sa nou fè a. Si nou fè l' konsa, nou tout n'a geri, epi n'a konnen poukisa li t'ap plede frape nou konsa.

Pèp la mande yo: -Ki kalite bagay pou nou bay ki va sèvi pou peye pou sa nou fè a? Yo di yo: -Senk bouton lò ak senk sourit an lò, yonn pou chak chèf moun Filisti yo, paske se menm maladi a ki te tonbe ni sou nou ni sou senk chèf nou yo.

N'a fè bouton lò yo pou yo sanble ak bouton ki te leve sou nou yo. Konsa tou, n'a fè senk sourit an lò pòtre ak sourit k'ap plede ravaje peyi a. Epi n'a rekonèt Bondye pèp Izrayèl la se yon Bondye ki gen pouvwa. Lè sa a, nou kwè l'a sispann frape nou, nou menm, bondye nou yo ak peyi nou an.

Poukisa pou n'ap fè tèt di tankou farawon an ak moun peyi Lejip yo? Eske lè Bondye te konmanse manyen ak yo, yo pa t' kite moun yo al fè wout yo?

Nou pral pare yon kabwa tou nèf ak de manman bèf ki gen pitit dèyè yo epi ki pa janm sèvi pou fè ankenn travay anvan sa. N'a mare yo nan kabwa a, men n'a fè ti bèf dèyè manman yo tounen lakay.

N'a pran Bwat Kontra Seyè a, n'a mete l' sou kabwa a. N'a pran sa n'ap bay pou sèvi pou peye pou sa nou fè a, n'a mete yo nan yon ti bwat sou kote l'. N'a mete kabwa a sou wout la, n'a kite l' ale pou kont li.

N'a rete ap gade l' ale. Si nou wè l' pran chemen moute lavil Bèt-Chemèch, n'a konnen se Bondye pèp Izrayèl la ki te voye tout malè sa yo sou nou. Men si li pran yon lòt wout, lè sa a n'a konnen malè sa yo pa t' soti nan li. Se te devenn pa nou.

10 ¶ Moun yo fè sa yo te di yo fè a. Yo pran de manman bèf ki te gen pitit dèyè yo, yo mare yo nan kabwa a, men yo kenbe ti bèf ki te dèyè manman yo lakay.

11 Yo mete Bwat Kontra a sou kabwa a ansanm ak ti bwat ki te gen ti sourit an lò yo ak pòtre bouton yo.

12 Bèf yo pran wout lavil Bèt-Chemèch dirèk dirèk. Y' al tou dwat devan yo. Sou tout wout la bèf yo t'ap rele. Senk chèf moun Filisti yo t'ap mache dèyè yo jouk yo rive sou baliz lavil Bèt-Chemèch.

13 Moun lavil Bèt-Chemèch yo t'ap ranmase ble nan plenn lan. Lè yo leve je yo, yo wè Bwat Kontra a, yo pran rele sitèlman yo te kontan.

14 Kabwa a rive nan jaden Jozye a nan peyi Bèt-Chemèch epi li rete. Te gen yon gwo wòch bò la. Moun yo demoute kabwa a, yo fann tout bwa yo, yo touye bèf yo, epi yo boule yo nèt pou Seyè a.

15 Apre sa, moun Levi yo desann Bwat Kontra Seyè a ansanm ak ti bwat ki te gen bagay an lò yo. Yo mete yo sou gwo wòch la. Jou sa a, moun lavil Bèt-Chemèch yo ofri lòt bèt tou pou boule nèt nan dife ansanm ak lòt ofrann pou Seyè a.

16 Lè senk chèf moun Filisti yo wè sa, yo tounen lavil Ekwon menm jou a.

17 Moun Filisti yo te voye senk bouton lò bay Seyè a pou sa te sèvi pou peye pou sa yo te fè a: yonn pou Asdòd, yonn pou Gaza, yonn pou Achkalon, yonn pou Gat, yonn pou Ekwon.

18 Yo te voye senk ti sourit fèt an lò tou, yonn pou chak lavil kote chèf moun Filisti yo t'ap kòmande, kit se lavil ki gen ranpa, kit se lavil ki pa gen ranpa. Gwo wòch kote yo te mete Bwat Kontra Seyè a nan mitan jaden Jozye a, bò lavil Bèt-Chemèch la, kanpe la jouk koulye a, tankou yon mak pou fè chonje sak te rive lè sa a.

19 ¶ Apre sa, Seyè a te touye kèk moun nan moun lavil Bèt-Chemèch yo paske yo t' al voye je yo wè sa ki anndan Bwat Kontra a. Li touye swasanndis ladan yo. Pèp la te nan gwo lapenn, paske Seyè a te fè gwo malè sa a sou yo.

20 Lè sa a, moun lavil Bèt-Chemèch yo di: -Ki moun ki ka kanpe devan Seyè a, Bondye sa a ki yon Bondye apa? Ki bò pou n' voye Bwat Kontra a ale pou l' pa rete lakay nou?

21 Yo pran kèk mesaje, yo voye yo ale bò kote moun lavil Kiriyat-Jearim, yo di yo konsa: -Moun Filisti yo voye Bwat Kontra Seyè a tounen. Vin pran l' mennen lakay nou.

The Ark Returned to Israel

When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners(A) and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift;(B) by all means send a guilt offering(C) to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand(D) has not been lifted from you.”

The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”

They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number(E) of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague(F) has struck both you and your rulers. Make models of the tumors(G) and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory(H) to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. Why do you harden(I) your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them,(J) did they(K) not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

“Now then, get a new cart(L) ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked.(M) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh,(N) then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”

10 So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat(O) in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering(P) to the Lord. 15 The Levites(Q) took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock.(R) On that day the people of Beth Shemesh(S) offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

17 These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each(T) for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 18 And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

19 But God struck down(U) some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[a] of them to death because they looked(V) into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. 20 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand(W) in the presence of the Lord, this holy(X) God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”

21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim,(Y) saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 6:19 A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint 50,070