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The Return of the Ark

1When the ark of theLORD had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,2the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners a and pleaded,“What should we do with the ark of theLORD? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

3They replied,“If you send the ark of Israel’s God away,you must not send it without an offering. b You must send back a restitution offering to Him, c and you will be healed.Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.” d

4They asked,“What restitution offering should we send back to Him? ”

And they answered,“Five gold tumors and five gold mice e corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, f since there was one plague for both you g and your rulers.5Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land.Give glory to Israel’s God, h and perhaps He will stop oppressing you, i  j your gods,and your land. k6Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? l When He afflicted them,didn’t they send Israel away,and Israel left? m

7“Now then,prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. n Hitch the cows to the cart,but take their calves away and pen them up.8Take the ark of theLORD, place it on the cart,and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box o beside the ark. p Send it off and let it go its way.9Then watch:If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, q it is theLORD who has made this terrible trouble for us.However,if it doesn’t,we will know that it was not His hand that punished r us — it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

10The men did this:They took two milk cows,hitched them to the cart,and confined their calves in the pen.11Then they put the ark of theLORD on the cart,along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.12The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. s They stayed on that one highway, t lowing as they went;they never strayed to the right or to the left.The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.

13The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley,and when they looked up and saw the ark,they were overjoyed to see it.14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock.The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a^•burnt offering to theLORD. u15The Levites v removed the ark of theLORD, along with the box containing the gold objects,and placed them on the large rock.That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to theLORD.16When the five Philistine rulers w observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

17As a restitution offering to theLORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: x Ashdod,Gaza,Ashkelon,Gath,and Ekron.18The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers,the fortified cities and the outlying villages. y The large rock z  aa on which the ark of theLORD was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.

19God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of theLORD. ab  ac He struck down 70 men out of 50,000 men. ad The people mourned because theLORD struck them with a great slaughter.20The men of Beth-shemesh asked,“Who is able to stand in the presence of this holyLORD God? ae Who should the ark go to from here? ”

21They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, af saying,“The Philistines have returned the ark of theLORD. Come down and get it.” ag