1 Samuel 6
Good News Translation
The Return of the Covenant Box
6 After the Lord's Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months, 2 the 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?”
3 They 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. 5 You 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. 6 Why 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. 7 So 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. 8 Take 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. 9 Then 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.”
10 They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn. 11 They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors. 12 The 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.
13 The 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. 14 The 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. 15 The 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. 16 The five Philistine kings watched them do this and then went back to Ekron that same day.
17 The 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. 18 They 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.
19 The 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
20 So 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?” 21 They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, “The Philistines have returned the Lord's Covenant Box. Come down and get it.”
1 Samuel 6
Expanded Bible
The Ark of God Is Sent Home
6 The Philistines kept the ·Ark of God [4:3] in their ·land [territory; country] seven months. 2 Then the Philistines [4:1] called for their priests and ·magicians [diviners] and said, “What should we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to send it back ·home [to its place]!”
3 They answered, “If you send back the Ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it back ·empty [without a gift]. ·You must give [Return it to him with] a ·penalty [guilt] offering. If you are then healed, you will know that it was ·because of the Ark that you had such trouble [L his hand that has been lifted from you].”
4 The Philistines asked, “What kind of ·penalty [guilt] offering should we send to ·Israel’s God [L him]?”
They answered, “Make five gold ·models [likenesses; images] of the ·growths on your skin [tumors] and five gold ·models [likenesses; images] of ·rats [or mice]. ·The number of ·models [likenesses; images] must match the number of Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords], because the same ·sickness [plague] has ·come on [struck; afflicted] you and your ·kings [rulers; lords]. 5 Make ·models [likenesses; images] of the ·growths [tumors] and the ·rats [or mice] that are ·ruining [destroying; ravaging] the ·country [land], and give ·honor [glory] to Israel’s God. Then maybe he will ·stop being so hard on [L lift his hand from] you, your gods, and your ·land [country]. 6 ·Don’t be stubborn [L Why do you harden your hearts…?] like the ·king [L Pharaoh] of Egypt and the Egyptians [Ex. 7:13; 8:15; 9:34]. After God ·punished them terribly [brought disaster on; or made fools of them], ·they let the Israelites leave Egypt [L did they not send the Israelites out, and they departed?].
7 “You must ·build [prepare] a new cart and get two cows that have just had calves. These must be cows that have never had yokes on their necks. Hitch the cows to the cart, and take the calves ·home, away from their mothers [away from them and put them in a pen]. 8 Put the Ark of the Lord [4:3] on the cart and the gold ·models [likenesses; objects] you are sending him for the ·penalty [guilt] offering in a ·box [chest] beside the Ark. Then send the cart ·straight on its way [to go its own way]. 9 Watch the cart. If it goes toward Beth Shemesh [C a town on the border with Philistia about 24 miles west of Jerusalem] in ·Israel’s own land [its own territory], [then] the Lord has ·given us this great sickness [brought this great disaster/harm on us]. But if it doesn’t, we will know that ·Israel’s God has not punished us [it was not God’s hand that struck us]. It just happened by chance.”
10 ·The Philistines did what the priests and magicians said [L The men did so]. They took two cows that had just had calves and hitched them to the cart, but they kept their calves ·at home [in a pen]. 11 They put the Ark of the Lord and the ·box [chest] with the gold rats and ·models [likenesses; images] of ·growths [tumors] on the cart. 12 Then the cows went straight toward Beth Shemesh. They stayed on the road, ·mooing [lowing] all the way, and did not turn right or left. The Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords] followed the cows as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were ·harvesting [reaping] their wheat in the valley. When they ·looked up [L raised their eyes] and saw the Ark of the Lord, they were ·very happy [joyful to see it]. 14 The cart came to the field belonging to Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped near a large rock. The people of Beth Shemesh chopped up the wood of the cart. Then they ·sacrificed [offered] the cows as burnt offerings to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the Ark of the Lord and the ·box [chest] that had the gold ·models [likenesses; images], and they put both on the large rock. That day the people of Beth Shemesh offered whole burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 After the five Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords] saw this, they went back to Ekron [5:10] the same day.
17 The Philistines had sent these gold ·models [likenesses; images] of the ·growths [tumors] as ·penalty [guilt] offerings to the Lord. They sent one ·model [likeness; image] for each Philistine town: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron [C the five chief cities of Philistia]. 18 And the Philistines also sent gold ·models [likenesses; images] of ·rats [or mice]. The number of ·rats [or mice] matched the number of towns belonging to the Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords], including both ·strong, walled [fortified] cities and country villages. The large rock on which they put the Ark of the Lord is still there [as a witness] in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19 But some of the men of Beth Shemesh looked into the Ark of the Lord. So God killed seventy of them. The people of Beth Shemesh ·cried [mourned] because the Lord had struck them ·down [so heavily; with a great slaughter]. 20 ·They [L The men of Beth Shemesh] said, “Who can stand ·before [in the presence of] the Lord, this holy God? ·Whom will he strike next [or To whom shall he/it go next]?”
21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim [C a town nine miles north of Jerusalem], saying, “The Philistines have ·brought back [returned] the Ark of the Lord. Come down and take it to your city.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.