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1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
World English Bible
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
World English Bible
6 Yahweh’s ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with Yahweh’s ark? Show us how we should send it to its place.”
3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it empty; but by all means return a trespass offering to him. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.”
4 Then they said, “What should the trespass offering be which we shall return to him?”
They said, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his hand from you, from your gods, and from your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn’t they let the people go, and they departed?
7 “Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; 8 and take Yahweh’s ark and lay it on the cart. Put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a box by its side; and send it away, that it may go. 9 Behold, if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us. It was a chance that happened to us.”
10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 They put Yahweh’s ark on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows took the straight way by the way to Beth Shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh. 13 The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there, where there was a great stone. Then they split the wood of the cart and offered up the cows for a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 The Levites took down Yahweh’s ark and the box that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Yahweh. 16 When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. 17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to Yahweh: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone on which they set down Yahweh’s ark. That stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. 19 He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into Yahweh’s ark, he struck fifty thousand seventy of the men. Then the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20 The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?”
21 They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back Yahweh’s ark. Come down and bring it up to yourselves.”
7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took Yahweh’s ark, and brought it into Abinadab’s house on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep Yahweh’s ark. 2 From the day that the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, the time was long—for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh.
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Ark Returned to Israel
6 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 Then the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us what we should send with it to its place.”(A) 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and forgiven;[a] will not his hand then turn from you?”(B) 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall send to him?” They answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was upon all of you and upon your lords.(C) 5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and your gods and your land.(D) 6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had made fools of them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?(E) 7 Now then, get ready a new cart and two milch cows that have never borne a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them.(F) 8 Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold that you are sending to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off, and let it go its way.(G) 9 And watch: if it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”(H)
10 The men did so; they took two milch cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one 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 Beth-shemesh.(I)
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they went with rejoicing to meet it.[b] 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A large stone was there; so they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.(J) 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box beside it in which were the gold objects and set them on the large stone. Then the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and presented sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.(K)
17 These are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;(L) 18 also the gold mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The 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.(M)
The Ark at Kiriath-jearim
19 The descendants of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the people of Beth-shemesh when they greeted[c] the ark of the Lord, and he killed seventy men of them.[d] The people mourned because the Lord had made a great slaughter among the people.(N) 20 Then the people of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom shall he go so that we may be rid of him?”(O) 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”(P) 7 1
2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented[e] after the Lord.
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
New International Version
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
New International Version
The Ark Returned to Israel
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 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.”
3 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.”
4 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. 5 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. 6 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?
7 “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. 8 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, 9 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.” 7 1 So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark(Z) of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s(AA) house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. 2 The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim(AB) a long time—twenty years in all.
Samuel Subdues the Philistines at Mizpah
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord.(AC)
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:19 A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint 50,070
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