18 The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages.(A) The large rock[a](B) on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.

19 God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord.[b](C) He struck down seventy persons.[c] The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20 The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord this holy God?(D) To whom should the ark go from here?”

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Footnotes

  1. 6:18 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read meadow
  2. 6:19 LXX reads But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Lord.
  3. 6:19 Some Hb mss, Josephus; other Hb mss read 70 men, 50,000 men

18 And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

19 But God struck down(A) some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[a] of them to death because they looked(B) into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. 20 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand(C) in the presence of the Lord, this holy(D) God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 6:19 A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint 50,070