The Ark Returned to Israel

6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the ^[a]country of the Philistines seven months. ² And ^(A)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us ^[b]how we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, ^(B)do not send it empty; but you shall surely ^(C)return to Him a guilt offering. 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 shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five golden ^(D)tumors and five golden mice ^(E)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of ^[c]you and on your lords. ⁵ So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and ^(F)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(G)He will ease His hand from you, ^(H)your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why then do you harden your hearts ^(I)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(J)did they not allow ^[d]the people to go, and they departed? ⁷ Now therefore, take and ^(K)prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there ^(L)has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. ⁸ Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put ^(M)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(N)a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. ⁹ Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^(O)Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then ^(P)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched 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 golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. ¹² And the cows took the straight way in the ^[e]direction of ^(Q)Beth-shemesh; they went along ^(R)the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it. ¹⁴ The cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and ^(S)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^15 (T)The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ When the ^(U)five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

^17 (V)These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; ¹⁸ and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^(W)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(X)The large ^[f]stone on which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

^19 (Y)He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ The men of Beth-shemesh said, “^(Z)Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(AA)Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to you.”

God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.

A Song, a Psalm of David.

Examine Yourselves

13 ^(A)This is the third time I am coming to you. ^(B)Every ^[a]fact ^[b]is to be confirmed by the ^[c]testimony of two or three witnesses. ² I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have ^(C)sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that ^(D)if I come again I will not ^(E)spare anyone, ³ since you are ^(F)seeking for proof of the ^(G)Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but ^(H)mighty in you. ⁴ For indeed He was ^(I)crucified because of weakness, yet He lives ^(J)because of the power of God. For we also are ^(K)weak ^[d]in Him, yet ^(L)we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

^5 (M)Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; ^(N)examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you ^[e](O)fail the test? ⁶ But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves ^[f]do not fail the test. ⁷ Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may ^[g]appear unapproved. ⁸ For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we rejoice when we ourselves are ^(P)weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, ^[h]that you be ^(Q)made complete. ¹⁰ For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present ^(R)I need not use ^(S)severity, in accordance with the ^(T)authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

^11 (U)Finally, brethren, ^[i]rejoice, ^[j](V)be made complete, be comforted, ^(W)be like-minded, ^(X)live in peace; and ^(Y)the God of love and peace will be with you. ^12 (Z)Greet one another with a holy kiss. ^13 (AA)All the ^[k]saints greet you.

^14 (AB)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ^(AC)love of God, and the ^(AD)fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.