1 Samuel 6
1 And the
ark of the
LORD was in the
country 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 the
LORD? tell us wherewith we shall
send it to his
place. 3 And they
said, If ye send
away the
ark of the
God of
Israel, send it not
empty; but in any
wise return him a trespass
offering: then ye shall be
healed, and it shall be
known to you why his
hand is not
removed from you.
4 Then
said they, What shall be the trespass
offering which we shall
return to him? They
answered,
Five golden emerods , and
five golden mice, according to the
number of the
lords of the
Philistines: for
one plague was on you all, and on your
lords. 5 Wherefore ye shall
make images of your
emerods , and
images of your
mice that
mar the
land; and ye shall
give glory unto the
God of
Israel: peradventure he will
lighten his
hand from off you, and from off your
gods, and from off your
land. 6 Wherefore then do ye
harden your
hearts, as the
Egyptians and
Pharaoh hardened their
hearts? when he had wrought
wonderfully among them, did they not let the people
go, and they
departed?
7 Now therefore
make a new cart, and
take two milch kine, on which there hath
come no
yoke, and
tie the
kine to the
cart, and
bring their
calves home from
them: 8 And
take the
ark of the
LORD, and
lay it upon the
cart; and
put the
jewels of
gold, which ye
return him for a trespass
offering, in a
coffer by the
side thereof; and send it
away, that it may
go.
9 And
see, if it goeth
up by the
way of his own
coast to
Bethshemesh, then he hath
done us this
great evil: but if not, then we shall
know that it is not his
hand that
smote us: it was a
chance that happened to
us.
10 And the
men did
so; and
took two milch kine, and
tied them to the
cart, and shut
up their
calves at
home: 11 And they
laid the
ark of the
LORD upon the
cart, and the
coffer with the
mice of
gold and the
images of their
emerods. 12 And the
kine took the
straight way to the
way of
Bethshemesh, and went
along the
highway,
lowing as they
went, and turned not
aside to the right
hand or to the
left; and the
lords of the
Philistines went after them unto the
border of
Bethshemesh. 13 And they of
Bethshemesh were
reaping their
wheat harvest in the
valley: and they lifted
up their
eyes, and
saw the
ark, and
rejoiced to
see it.
14 And the
cart came into the
field of
Joshua, a
Bethshemite, and
stood there, where there was a
great stone: and they
clave the
wood of the
cart, and
offered the
kine a burnt
offering unto the
LORD. 15 And the
Levites took
down the
ark of the
LORD, and the
coffer that was with it, wherein the
jewels of
gold were, and
put them on the
great stone: and the
men of
Bethshemesh offered burnt
offerings and
sacrificed sacrifices the same
day unto the
LORD. 16 And when the
five lords of the
Philistines had
seen it, they
returned to
Ekron the same
day. 17 And these are the
golden emerods which the
Philistines returned for a trespass
offering unto the
LORD; for
Ashdod one, for
Gaza one, for
Askelon one, for
Gath one, for
Ekron one; 18 And the
golden mice, according to the
number of all the
cities of the
Philistines belonging to the
five lords, both of
fenced cities, and of
country villages, even unto the
great stone of
Abel, whereon they set
down the
ark of the
LORD: which stone remaineth unto this
day in the
field of
Joshua, the
Bethshemite. 19 And he
smote the
men of
Bethshemesh, because they had
looked into the
ark of the
LORD, even he
smote of the
people fifty thousand and threescore and
ten men: and the
people lamented, because the
LORD had
smitten many of the
people with a
great slaughter. 20 And the
men of
Bethshemesh said, Who is
able to
stand before this
holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go
up from us?
21 And they
sent messengers to the
inhabitants of
Kirjathjearim, saying, The
Philistines have brought
again the
ark of the
LORD; come ye
down, and fetch it
up to you.