1 Samuel 6:1-9

The Ark Returned to Israel

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 ¹hardened their hearts? When He had abused them, ^bdid they not allow ²the 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.”

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