1Sa 6 | ABEn | STEP | And [ 4 was 1 the 2 ark 3 of the lord ] in the field of the Philistines seven months.

1 Samuel 6

CHAPTER 6 The Philistines Return the Ark to Israel

1 And [⁴was ¹the ²ark ³of the lord] in the field of the Philistines seven months. 2 And [²called ¹the Philistines] the priests, and the clairvoyants, and their enchanters, saying, What should we do with the ark of the lord? Make known to us by what means we shall send it unto its place! 3 And they said, If you yourselves send the ark of the covenant of the lord God of Israel, do not send it out empty! but by delivering it up, you give it back for the torment! and then you shall be healed, and it shall be atoned unto you, if should you not remove his hand from you? 4 And they say, What thing for the torment shall we give for it? And they said, 5 According to the number of the satrapies of the Philistines -- five buttocks of gold, for the fault in you, and your rulers, and to the people. And five [²mice ¹golden], a representation of your mice, of the ones corrupting the land. And you shall give to the lord God glory, so that he should lighten his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land. 6 And why do you oppress your hearts as [⁴oppressed ¹Egypt ²and ³Pharaoh] their hearts? Was it not when he mocked them, that they sent them, and they went forth? 7 And now, take and make [³wagon ²new ¹one], and two oxen having given birth for the first time, without the offspring, upon which [²was not placed upon ¹a yoke]! And team up the oxen on the wagon, and their offspring lead away from behind them to the house! 8 And you shall take the ark of the lord, and you shall put it upon the wagon; and the items of gold, deliver it for the torment! And you shall put in place a chest on part of it, and you shall send it, and it shall go forth. 9 And you shall see if into the way of their border it shall go -- according to Beth-shemesh, if he did to us [³evil ²great ¹this]. And if not, then we will know that it was not his hand that touched us, but that [³a coincidence ¹this ²was] to us. 10 And [³did ¹the ²Philistines] so. And they took two oxen, having given birth for the first time. And they teamed them up to the wagon, and their offspring they shut up at the house. 11 And they put the ark of the lord upon the wagon, and the place chest, and the mice of gold, and the images of their buttocks. 12 And [³straightened out ¹the ²oxen] in the journey on the way to Beth-Shemesh, in a road in its going, and they labored, and they turned not aside right nor left; and the satraps of the Philistines went after them unto the borders of Beth-shemesh. 13 And the ones in Beth-shemesh were harvesting the harvest of wheat in the valley. And they lifted their eyes, and they beheld the ark of the lord, and they were rejoiced to meet it. 14 And the wagon entered into the field of Joshua, the one in Beth-shemesh, and it stood there by [²stone ¹a great]. And they split the wood of the wagon, and the oxen they offered for a whole burnt-offering to the lord. 15 And the Levites brought the ark of the lord, and the place chest with it, and the items of gold, and put them upon the [²stone ¹great]. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered whole burnt-offerings, and they sacrificed sacrifices to the lord in that day. 16 And the five satraps of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Ekron in that day. 17 And these are the [²buttocks ¹gold] which [³gave back ¹the ²Philistines] for the torment to the lord -- for Ashdod one, Gaza one, Ashkelon one, Gath one, Ekron one. 18 And [²mice ¹gold], according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, of the five satraps, from the city being solidly fortified, and unto the town of the Perezzite, and unto [³stone ¹the ²great] of which they placed upon it the ark of the covenant of the lord until this day in the field of Joshua, of the one of Beth-shemesh.

God Strikes the Men of Beth-shemesh

19 And he struck the men of Beth-shemesh, for they beheld the ark of the lord. And he struck among them seventy men, and fifty thousand men of the people. And [³mourned ¹the ²people] because the lord struck among the people [³calamity ²great ¹an exceedingly]. 20 And they said, the men, the ones from Beth-shemesh, Who shall be able to stand before the lord, [³God ²holy ¹this]? And to whom shall [⁵ascend ¹the ²ark ³of the ⁴ lord] of us? 21 And they sent messengers to the ones dwelling in Kirjath-jearim, saying, [³returned ¹The ²Philistines] the ark of the lord, and you go down and lead it up unto you!