Returning the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord God |
1 Samuel 6:1-21 The Book of 1 Samuel [in Smaller Chunks] |
The Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines, 7 months. And the Philistines called for the priests & the diviners, saying, What shall we do [with] the Ark of the Lord? Tell us [with what] we shall [do to] send it [back] to [its] place? |
[1 Samuel 5:6-7 But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon [those] of Ashdod, & He destroyed them, & [struck] them with emerods, [a.k.a. tumors,] even Ashdod & [its coastal territory.] And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The Ark of the God of Israel shall not [stay] with us. For His hand is [heavy] upon us, & upon Dagon, our god.] |
And [the Philistines] said, If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, [don’t] send it empty, but return [to] Him a [sin] offering. Then, you shall be healed, & it shall be known to you why [God’s] hand isn’t removed from you. |
Then, they said, What shall be the [sin] offering, [that] we shall return to Him? They answered, 5 golden [tumors,] & 5 golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for 1 plague, [of tumors] was on all [of] you, & your lords. |
[For this reason,] you shall make [golden] images of your: [tumors] & mice that [harm] the land. And you shall give glory to the God of Israel, [so perhaps,] He will lighten His hand from off [of] you, & from off: your gods, & your land. |
[Why] then do you harden your [stubborn] hearts, [like] the Egyptians & Pharaoh hardened their hearts? [Even] when [the Lord God] had [worked, a.k.a. had done miracles,] wonderfully, among [the Egyptians] & they [still] [didn't] let [the Israelites] go, & [yet] they departed? |
Therefore, now make a new cart, & take 2 [milk cows, that have never been yoked,] & tie the [cows] to the cart, & [take] their calves home from them. And [put] the Ark of the Lord upon the cart, & [beside it,] put a coffer, [a.k.a. chest,] with the gold [objects, that] you return [to God] for a [sin] offering. And send it away, that it may go. |
See if [the cart goes] up by the [road of its] own coast to Beth Shemesh, then [you will know] [the Lord God has] done this great evil [to] us. But if [the cows don’t go that way,] we’ll know it [wasn’t God’s] hand that [struck us] [with tumors,] & it happened to us [by] chance. |
The men did so, & took & tied the 2 [milk cows] to the cart, & shut up their calves at home. And they [put] the Ark of the Lord upon the cart, & the [chest] with the images of their mice & [tumors] of gold. |
And the [cows] took the [cart] straight to the [road] of Beth Shemesh, & went along the highway, [mooing] as they went, & [didn’t turn] aside to the right hand or to the left. And the Philistine lords [followed] after them to the border of Beth Shemesh. |
And [those of] Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, & they lifted up their eyes & saw the Ark, & rejoiced to see it. And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth Shemite, & stood there, [where] there was a [large rock.] |
And they [cut] the wood [from] the cart, & offered the [cows] [as] a burnt offering to the Lord. And the Levites took down the Ark of the Lord, & the [chest] that was with it, [in which] the gold [images] were, & [they] put them on the [large rock.] |
And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings & [made] sacrifices to the Lord the same day. And when the 5 [Philistine] lords [saw this,] they returned to Ekron the same day. |
These are the golden [tumor images that] the Philistines returned for a [sin] offering to the Lord: 1 for Ashdod, 1 for. Gaza, 1 for Askelon [a.k.a. Ashkelon,] 1 for Gath & 1 for Ekron. |
And the golden mice [were] according to the number of all the [Philistine] cities, both: fenced & country villages [that] [belonged] to the 5 lords, even [as far as] the [large rock] of Abel, [upon which] they [put] down the Ark of the Lord. |
[This] [large rock remains] to this day in the field of Joshua, the Beth Shemite. And [the Lord God killed] the men of Beth Shemesh [who] looked into the Ark of the Lord & [killed] 50,070 men. |
And the people [of Beth Shemesh] [mourned,] because the Lord had [killed] many of the people with a [large] slaughter. And the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God? And to whom shall [the Lord God] go up from us? |
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, The Philistines have [returned] the Ark of the Lord. You, come down & [take] it up to you. |