Samuel I_Chapter 6

The ark of the Lord was in the land of the Philistines for seven months.

The Philistines gathered the priests and diviners together and asked them, ‘What should we do to the Ark of the Lord?’. Please instruct us on how to return the Ark to its original location.

They said, If you want to send the ark of the God of Israel back, do not send it empty. You must offer him a gift of forgiveness, and then you will be healed and know why his hand did not leave you.

The Philistines said, “What gift should we offer as an apology?”? They answered, ‘According to the number of the leaders of the Philistines, use five golden hemorrhoids and five golden mice, because the same plague is on you all and your leaders.’.

So when you make images of hemorrhoids and destroy images of rats in your fields, and give glory to the God of Israel, or let him lighten his hands to you, your God, and your fields.

Why do you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh? God did wonders among the Egyptians, did they not release the Israelites, and they went away?

Now make a new car and put two cows that have not been yoked and have milk on it, so that the calves can go home and leave the cows.

Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart, put the offering of atonement in a box, and place it by the ark. Send the ark away.

Look, if the chariot goes straight through the border of Israel to Bethshemesh, this great calamity is the one that the Lord has brought upon us. If not, we can know that it wasn’t his hand hitting us, it was our chance encounter.

The Philistines did this: they put two lactating cows on carts and kept their calves at home,

Put the ark of the Lord and the box containing the golden mice and the golden hemorrhoids on the cart.

Niu walked straight on the main road towards Bethshemesh, shouting and shouting without turning left or right. The leaders of the Philistines followed behind until the border of Bethshemesh.

The people of Bethshemesh were harvesting wheat in the plain, and when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced.

When the carriage arrived in the field of Joshua the Bethshemesh, it stopped. There was a big rock there, and they chopped up the cart and offered two cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box of gold, and placed it on a great rock. On that day, the people of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.

The five leaders of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that day.

These are the golden hemorrhoids offered by the Philistines as compensation to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron.

The number of golden mice is based on the cities of the five lords of the Philistines, which are fortified cities and villages, as well as the great rock. This rock is the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and it is still in the field of Joshua the Bethshemesh to this day.

The Lord struck down seventy of the people of Bethshemesh because they had seen his ark without permission. At that time, there were fifty thousand people there. The people mourned because the Lord had dealt a great blow to them.

The people of Bethshemesh said, Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Who can we take this ark from here to?

So he sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord. Come down and bring the ark to you.