1 Samuel 6

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

2Then the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

3They answered, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty. Be sure to send a guilt offering back to him. Then you will be healed, and you will find out why his hand has not turned away from you.”

4They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?” They answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice, one for each of the rulers of the Philistines, because the same plague struck all of you and your rulers.

5Make images of your tumors and images of the mice that are ruining the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land.

6Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt harshly with them, did they not let the people go, and they left?

7So now, get a new cart ready, and two cows that have calves and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away from them and bring them home.

8Then take the ark of Yahweh and put it on the cart. Put the gold objects that you are sending back to him as a guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it off and let it go its way.

9Watch it. If it goes up toward its own territory, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has brought this great disaster on us. But if not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

10The men did so. They took two cows that had calves and hitched them to the cart and shut up their calves at home.

11They put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.

12The cows went straight ahead on the road toward Beth-shemesh. They kept to the one highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.

13The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight.

14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there, where there was a large stone. They split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh.

15The Levites had taken down the ark of Yahweh and the box that was with it, which held the gold objects, and put them on the large stone. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to Yahweh.

16When the five rulers of the Philistines had seen this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

17These are the gold tumors that the Philistines sent back as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron.

18The number of gold mice matched the number of all the Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers, from fortified cities to country villages, as far as Great Abel, on which they set down the ark of Yahweh. It is there to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

19But Yahweh struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh. He struck down 50,070 of the people, and the people mourned because Yahweh had struck them with a great slaughter.

20The men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who can stand in the presence of Yahweh, this holy God? To whom can the ark go up from here?”

21So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim to say, “The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to your place.”