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1 Samuel 6
1599 Geneva Bible
1 Samuel 6
1599 Geneva Bible
6 1 The time that the Ark was with the Philistines, which they sent again with a gift. 12 It cometh to Beth Shemesh. 17 The Philistines offer golden emerods. 19 The men of Beth Shemesh are stricken for looking into the Ark.
1 So the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines [a]seven months.
2 And the Philistines called the Priests and the Soothsayers, saying, What shall we do with the Ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it home again.
3 And they said, If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but give unto it [b]a sin offering: then shall ye be healed, and it shall be known to you, why his hand departeth not from you.
4 Then said they, What shall be the sin offering, which we shall give unto it? And they answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the princes of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your princes.
5 Wherefore ye shall make the similitudes of your emerods, and the similitudes of your mice that destroy the land: so ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel, that he may take his hand from you, and from your [c]gods, and from your land.
6 Wherefore then should ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts, when he wrought wonderfully among them, (A)did they not let them go, and they departed?
7 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on whom there hath come no yoke: and tie the kine to the cart, and bring the calves home from them.
8 Then take the Ark of the Lord, and set it upon the cart, and put the [d]jewels of gold which ye give it for a sin offering in a coffer by the side thereof, and send it away, that it may go.
9 And take heed, if it go up by the way of his own coast to Beth Shemesh, it is [e]he that did us this great evil: but if not, we shall know then, that it is not his hand that smote us, but it was a [f]chance that happened us.
10 And the men did so: for they took two kine that gave milk, and tied them to the cart, and shut the calves at home.
11 So they set the Ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold, and with the similitudes of their emerods.
12 And the kine went the straight way to Beth Shemesh, and kept one path, and lowed as they went, and turned neither to the right hand nor to the left: also the princes of the Philistines went after [g]them unto the borders of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now they of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they lift up their eyes, and spied the Ark, and rejoiced when they saw it.
14 ¶ And the cart came into the field of Joshua a Beth Shemite, and stood still there. There was also a great stone, and [h]they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine for a burnt offering unto the Lord.
15 And the Levites took down the Ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone, and the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offering, and sacrificed sacrifices that same day unto the Lord.
16 And when the five princes of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 ¶ So these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines gave for a sin offering to the Lord: for [i]Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, and for Ekron one,
18 And golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, belonging to the five princes, both of walled towns, and of towns unwalled unto the great stone of [j]Abel, whereon they set the Ark of the Lord: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth Shemite.
19 And he smote of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they [k]had looked in the Ark of the Lord: he slew even among the people fifty thousand men and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had slain the people with so great a slaughter.
20 Wherefore the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? and to whom shall he go from us?
21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the Ark of the Lord: come ye down, and take it up to you.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:1 They thought by continuance of time the plague would have ceased, and so would have kept the Ark still.
- 1 Samuel 6:3 The idolaters confess there is a true God, who justifieth sin justly.
- 1 Samuel 6:5 This is God’s judgment upon the idolaters, that knowing the true God, they worship him not aright.
- 1 Samuel 6:8 Meaning, the golden emerods and the golden mice.
- 1 Samuel 6:9 The God of Israel.
- 1 Samuel 6:9 The wicked attribute almost all things to fortune and chance, whereas indeed there is nothing done without God’s providence and decree.
- 1 Samuel 6:12 For the trial of the matter.
- 1 Samuel 6:14 To wit, the men of Beth Shemesh, which was Israelites.
- 1 Samuel 6:17 These were the five principal cities of the Philistines, which were not all conquered unto the time of David.
- 1 Samuel 6:18 Or, the plaint, or lamentation.
- 1 Samuel 6:19 For it was not lawful to any either to touch or to see it, save only to Aaron and his sons, Num. 4:15, 20.
1 Samuel 6
New International Version
1 Samuel 6
New International Version
The Ark Returned to Israel
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners(A) and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift;(B) by all means send a guilt offering(C) to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand(D) has not been lifted from you.”
4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number(E) of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague(F) has struck both you and your rulers. 5 Make models of the tumors(G) and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory(H) to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. 6 Why do you harden(I) your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them,(J) did they(K) not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
7 “Now then, get a new cart(L) ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked.(M) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh,(N) then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
10 So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat(O) in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering(P) to the Lord. 15 The Levites(Q) took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock.(R) On that day the people of Beth Shemesh(S) offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.
17 These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each(T) for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 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(U) some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[a] of them to death because they looked(V) 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(W) in the presence of the Lord, this holy(X) God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim,(Y) saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:19 A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint 50,070
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) 
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