1 Samuel 6

1The ark of Yahweh was in Philistine territory seven months.

2The Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Show us how we shall send it to its place."

3They said, "If you send away the ark of Israel's God, do not send it empty, but return a guilt offering to him; then you will be healed, and it will become known to you why his hand does not depart from you."

4They said, "What guilt offering must we return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, corresponding to the number of Philistine lords, because one plague struck every one of you and your lords."

5You shall make images of your tumors and hemorrhoids, and images of your mice that ruin the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will ease his hand from off you, from off your gods, and from off your land.

6Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When he dealt harshly with them, did they not send them away, and they departed?

7Now therefore take and make a new cart and two nursing cows on which no yoke has come upon them; tie the cows to the cart, and return their calves from behind them to the house.

8Take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the wagon, and put the golden vessels that you return to him as a guilt offering in a box by its side; send it away, that it may go.

9Watch; if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he has brought this great affliction on us, but if not, we will know that it was not his hand that struck us—a chance that happened to us.

10The men did so, took two nursing cows, tied them to the cart, and shut their calves up at home.

11They placed the ark of Yahweh on the cart, along with the coffer, the golden mice, and the images of their tumors.

12The cows went straight along the road to Beth-shemesh on the highway, lowing as they traveled without turning aside to the right or the left, while the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

13People of Beth-shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley when they raised their eyes, saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

14The cart came to the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there, where there was a great stone, and they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh.

15The Levites lowered the ark of Yahweh and the coffer alongside it, containing the gold vessels, and set them on the great stone, while the men of Beth-shemesh presented burnt offerings and offered sacrifices to Yahweh that day.

16The five lords of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that day.

17These are the golden tumors the Philistines returned to Yahweh as a guilt offering: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron.

18And the golden mice, equal in number to all the cities of the Philistines under the five lords—from fortified cities to rural villages, even to the great Abel in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite, where they set down the ark of Yahweh upon it to this day.

19He struck the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh; he struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people mourned because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.

20The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who can stand before Yahweh, this holy God, and to whom will he go up from us?”

21They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh; come down and bring it up to yourselves."