1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Return of the Ark
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, 2 the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners(A) and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”
3 They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering.(B) You must send back a restitution offering to Him,(C) and you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”[a]
4 They asked, “What restitution offering should we send back to Him?”
And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice(D) corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers,(E) since there was one plague for both you[b] and your rulers. 5 Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God,(F) and perhaps He will stop oppressing you,[c](G) your gods, and your land.(H) 6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs?(I) When He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?(J)
7 “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked.(K) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box(L) beside the ark.(M) Send it off and let it go its way. 9 Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh,(N) it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished(O) us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”
10 The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11 Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh.(P) They stayed on that one highway,(Q) lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.(R) 15 The Levites(S) removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers(T) observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17 As a restitution offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city:(U) Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages.(V) The large rock[d](W) on which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.
19 God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord.[e](X) He struck down 70 men out of 50,000 men.[f] The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20 The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of this holy Lord God?(Y) Who should the ark go to from here?”
21 They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim,(Z) saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.”[g]
7 So the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill.(AA) They consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.
Victory at Mizpah
2 Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:3 DSS, LXX read healed, and an atonement shall be made for you. Shouldn’t His hand be removed from you?
- 1 Samuel 6:4 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read them
- 1 Samuel 6:5 Lit will lighten the heaviness of His hand from you
- 1 Samuel 6:18 Some Hb mss, DSS, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read meadow
- 1 Samuel 6:19 LXX reads But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 6:19 Some Hb mss, Josephus read 70 men; other Hb mss read 50,070 men
- 1 Samuel 6:21 Lit and bring it up to you
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
Common English Bible
God’s chest is returned
6 The Lord’s chest was in Philistine territory for seven months. 2 The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners. “What should we do with the Lord’s chest?” they asked. “Tell us how we should send it back to its own home.”
3 They replied, “If you are returning the chest of Israel’s God, don’t send it back empty, but be sure to return a guilt offering to him.[a] Then you will be healed, and it will become clear to you why God’s hand hasn’t left you alone.”
4 “What compensation offering should we return to him?” they asked.
The priests and diviners replied: “Five gold tumors[b] and five gold mice,[c] matching the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague came on all of you and your rulers. 5 You must make images of your tumors and the mice that have devastated the land. Honor Israel’s God. Perhaps he will lighten the weight of his hand on you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why be stubborn like the Egyptians and Pharaoh? After God had dealt harshly with them, didn’t they send the Israelites on their way? 7 So get a new cart ready along with two nursing cows that have never been yoked before. Harness the cows to the cart, but take any of their calves that are following back home. 8 Next, take the Lord’s chest and put it in the cart. Set the gold items that you are giving God as a compensation offering in a box next to the chest. Then send it on its way. 9 Then watch what happens: If the cart goes up the road to its own territory toward Beth-shemesh, then Israel’s God has brought this great disaster on us. If the cart goes another way, then we’ll know that it wasn’t God’s hand that struck us. It happened to us randomly.”
10 The rulers[d] did just that. They took two nursing cows and harnessed them to the cart, penning their calves up at home. 11 They put the Lord’s chest on the cart along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.[e] 12 The cows went straight ahead, following the road to Beth-shemesh. They kept to one route, mooing as they went, without turning right or left. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the chest, they were overjoyed at the sight. 14 The cart entered the field belonging to Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped right by a large stone. They chopped up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as an entirely burned offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites unloaded the Lord’s chest and the box that was with it that contained all the gold items, and they set them on the large stone. That very day the people of Beth-shemesh offered entirely burned offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers witnessed this, they went straight back to Ekron.
17 These are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned as a compensation offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron. 18 The gold mice matched the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers, from fortified cities to country villages. And the large stone[f] they set the Lord’s chest on is a witness even now in the field that belongs to Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19 But God struck down some of the people from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Lord’s chest. God struck seventy people,[g] and the community grieved because the Lord had struck them so severely. 20 The people of Beth-shemesh said, “Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Where can he go that is away from us here?” 21 They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim. “The Philistines returned the Lord’s chest!” they said. “Come down and take it back with you.”
7 So the people of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Lord’s chest. They brought it to Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Then they dedicated Eleazar, Abinadab’s son, to care for the Lord’s chest.
Samuel leads Israel
2 Now a long time passed—a total of twenty years—after the chest came to stay in Kiriath-jearim, and the whole house of Israel yearned for[h] the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:3 Or be sure to return it with a compensation offering.
- 1 Samuel 6:4 Kethib; Qere hemorrhoids (cf Deut 28:27); also in 6:5; see note at 6:11.
- 1 Samuel 6:4 LXX lacks and five gold mice.
- 1 Samuel 6:10 See 6:12; MT men.
- 1 Samuel 6:11 Or hemorrhoids; also in 6:17, the Qere form for the Hebrew written form of tumors used in 6:4-5
- 1 Samuel 6:18 LXX
- 1 Samuel 6:19 LXX; MT adds fifty thousand people.
- 1 Samuel 7:2 Heb uncertain; LXX searched for
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