Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 2 And ^athe Philistines called for the priests and the diviners (seers) , saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Let us know how we can send it back to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, ^ado not send it empty without a gift; but be sure to ^breturn it to Him together with 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 the guilt offering be which we shall return to Him?” They answered, “¹Five golden ^atumors and five golden mice, ^baccording to the number of the lords (governors) of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 So you shall make replicas of your tumors and of your mice that ravage the land, and ^agive glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^bHe will lighten His hand of judgment on you and ^cyour gods and your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts allowing pride to cause your downfall ^ajust as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them and mocked them, ^bdid they not allow the people of Israel to go, and they departed? 7 Now then, make a new cart and ^aprepare two ¹milk cows on which a yoke ^bhas never been placed; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart; and put ^athe articles of gold which you are returning to Him as ^ba guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it away without a driver. 9 But watch, ¹if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^2aBeth-shemesh, then you will know that He has done us this great evil. But if not, then ^bwe will know that it was not His hand that struck us; this disaster happened to us by chance.”

10 And the men did so, and took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and corralled their calves at home. 11 They put the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the box containing the golden mice and the replicas of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight toward ^aBeth-shemesh along ^bthe highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn away to the right or the left. And the Philistine lords (governors) followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

13 Now the men of Beth-shemesh were gathering their wheat harvest in the valley, and they looked up and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A large stone was there; and the men split up the wood of the cart for firewood and ^aoffered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 ^aThe Levites had taken down the ark of the LORD and the box beside 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 made sacrifices that day to the LORD. 16 When the ^afive lords of the Philistines saw what happened, they returned to Ekron that day.

17 ^aThese are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath and one for Ekron the five chief cities of the Philistines; 18 also the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^aboth fortified cities and unwalled country villages. ^bThe large stone on which the Levites set the ark of the LORD remains a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

19 ^aThe LORD struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20 The men of Beth-shemesh said, “^aWho 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 residents of ^aKiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to you.”

Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the ¹fields of the Philistines seven months. 2 And ^athe Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Make us know ¹how we shall send it to its place.” 3 So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, ^ado not send it empty; but you shall surely ^breturn to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not turned away from you.” 4 Then they said, “What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five golden ^atumors and five golden mice ^baccording to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of ¹you and on your lords. 5 So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that bring the land to ruin, and ^ayou shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^bHe will ease His hand from you, ^cyour gods, and your land. 6 Why then do you ¹harden your hearts ^aas the Egyptians and Pharaoh ²hardened their hearts? When He had abused them, ^bdid they not allow ³the people to go, and they went? 7 So now, take and ^amake a new cart and two milch cows on which there ^bhas never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the cart; and put ^athe articles of gold which you return to Him as ^ba guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. 9 See, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^aBeth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then ^bwe will know that it was not His hand that smote 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 And they put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, as well as the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. 12 And the cows took the straight way in the ¹direction of ^aBeth-shemesh; they went along ^bthe highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after 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 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there, and a large stone was there; and they split the wood of the cart and ^aoffered the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 ^aAnd the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh 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 Yahweh. 16 So the ^afive lords of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that day.

17 ^aNow these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to Yahweh: 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, ^aboth of fortified cities and of country villages. ^bThe large ¹stone on which they set the ark of Yahweh is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

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