1 Samuel 6 - The Scriptures 1998

¹ And the ark of יהוה  was in the field of the Philistines for seven months.

² And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What do we do with the ark of יהוה ? Let us know with what we should send it to its place.”

³ And they said, “If you send away the ark of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕ

⁴ And they said, “What is the guilt offering which we return to Him?” And they answered, “The number of the princes of the Philistines: five golden tumours and five golden rats. For the same plague was on all of you and on your princes.

⁵ “And you shall make images of your tumours and images of your rats that ruin the land, and you shall give esteem to the Elohim of Yisra’ĕ

⁶ “And why do you harden your hearts as the Mitsrites and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not send them away, and they went?

⁷ “And now, take and make a new wagon, and two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the wagon. And take their calves home, away from them.

⁸ “And take the ark of יהוה  and put it on the wagon. And put the objects of gold which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering in a chest by its side, and send it away, and it shall go.

⁹ “And you shall see, if it goes up the way to its own border, to Bĕ

¹⁰ And the men did so and took two milk cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut up their calves at home.

¹¹ And they put the ark of יהוה  on the wagon, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumours.

¹² And the cows went straight for the way to Bĕ

¹³ And they of Bĕ

¹⁴ And the wagon came into the field of Yehoshua of Bĕ

¹⁵ And the Lĕ

¹⁶ And when the five princes of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Eqron the same day.

¹⁷ And these are the gold tumours which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to יהוה : one for Ashdoḏ

¹⁸ and the gold rats, by the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five princes, both walled cities and country villages, even as far as the great meadow on which they placed the ark of יהוה, remain to this day in the field of Yehoshua of Bĕ

¹⁹ And He smote among the men of Bĕ

²⁰ And the men of Bĕ

²¹ And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Qiryath Yeʽ