King James Version

1 And the Ark of the Lord was in the field of the Philistines for seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the Ark of the LORD? Inform us how we should send it to its place." 3 And they said, "If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, for you will surely return it to him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you." 4 And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was upon all of you and upon your lords." 5 And you shall make images of your idols and images of your abominations that destroy the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land. 6 And why will you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? Did they not suffer as He dealt harshly with them, and they sent them away, and they went? 7 And now take for yourselves a new cart and two milk cows that have not borne a yoke, and tie the cows to the cart and bring their calves home away from them. 8 And you shall take the Ark of the Lord and put it onto the cart, and the golden objects that you have returned to Him, you shall place in the box beside it, and you shall send it away, and it shall go. 9 And you will see if the way of his border will ascend to Beth Shemesh; he is the one who has done this great evil to us, and if not, we will know that it is not his hand that touched us; it was a coincidence that happened to us. 10 And the men did so, and they took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and they placed their calves in the house. 11 And they placed the Ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest and the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight on the road to Beth-Shemesh, along one road; they went along and did not turn right or left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-Shemesh. 13 And in Beth Shemesh, the harvesters were harvesting wheat in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and they rejoiced to see it. 14 And the cart came to the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite and stood there, and there was a great stone, and they split the wood of the cart and the cows were offered as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites brought down the Ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, in which were the golden vessels, and they set it on the large stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the LORD. 16 And five lords of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Ekron on that day. 17 And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. 18 And the mice of gold were in number all the cities of the Philistines, to the five lords of the Philistines, from the fortified city to the brook of the un-walled city, and to the great Abel, which they set upon the ark of the LORD until this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. 19 And He struck down the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord, and He struck down of the people seventy men, five thousand men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God, and to whom shall we go up from us?" 21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord; come down and bring it up to you."