1
And the ark of Jehovah was in the field of the Philistines seven months.
2
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of Jehovah? Let· us ·know with what we shall send it to its place.
3
And they said, If you send··away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but◦ returning, return a guilt offering to Him; then▵ you shall be healed and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.
4
And they said, What is the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? And they said, According to the number of the satraps of the Philistines, five hemorrhoids of gold, and five mice of gold, for one plague◦ was on all of them and on your satraps.
5
And you shall make images of your hemorrhoids and images of the mice that destroy the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: perhaps He will lighten His hand from upon you, and from upon your gods, and from upon your land.
6
And why will you make··heavy your heart, as◦ the Egyptians◦ and Pharaoh made··heavy their heart? When▵ He had wrought against them, did they not send them away, and they went◦?
7
And now, take and make one new cart, and two cows giving··milk, on which a yoke has not come··up, and bind the cows to the cart, and return their young◦ behind them toward the house.
8
And take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart; and put the vessels of gold, which you return Him for a guilt offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away and let it go◦.
9
And see: if it goes··up by the way of its border to Beth-shemesh, He◦ has done to us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it was not His hand that plagued us; it◦ was for us by chance.
10
And the men◦ did so; and they took two cows giving··milk◦ and they bound them to the cart, and their two young◦ they held··back at the house.
11
And they set the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer, and the mice of gold, and the images of their hemorrhoids.
12
And the cows went··straight on the way, the way up to Beth-shemesh, on◦ the one highway they walked, walking and lowing, and they turned· not ·aside, right or◦ left; and the satraps of the Philistines walked after them until the border of Beth-shemesh.
13
And they of Beth-shemesh were harvesting the wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted··up their eyes, and they saw the ark, and they were··glad to see it.
14
And the cart came to▵ the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemeshite, and stood there, and a great stone was there. And they split the wood of the cart, and offered··up the cows as a burnt··offering to Jehovah.
15
And the Levites took··down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein◦ were the vessels of gold, and put them on the great stone; and the men◦ of Beth-shemesh offered up burnt··offerings, and sacrificed sacrifices in that◦ day unto Jehovah.
16
And the five satraps of the Philistines saw it, and they returned to Ekron in that◦ day.
17
And these are the hemorrhoids of gold which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering unto Jehovah; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one.
18
And the mice of gold according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, of the five satraps, from the fortified city, and even··to Copher* of the countryside, and unto◦ the great Abel*, on which they placed the ark of Jehovah; even· to this day it is in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemeshite.
19
And He smote the men◦ of Beth-shemesh, for they had seen into the ark of Jehovah, and He smote among◦ the people seventy men◦ and fifty thousand men◦; and the people mourned, for Jehovah had smitten among◦ the people a great smiting.
20
And the men◦ of Beth-shemesh said, Who is··able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to▵ whom shall He go··up from us?
21
And they sent messengers to▵ those who dwelt in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have returned the ark of Jehovah; come· ye ·down and bring· it ·up to▵ yourselves.
