Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along that route, bellowing more and more; they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
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6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When God treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way?
7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls.
8 Then take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way.
9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”
10 So the men did as instructed. They took two cows that had calves and harnessed them to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls.
11 They put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores.
13 Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight.
14 The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.
16 The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.
17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the LORD– one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.
18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel, where they positioned the ark of the LORD until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.
19 But the LORD struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD; he struck down 50,070 of the men. The people grieved because the LORD had struck the people with a hard blow.
20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked,“Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying,“The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down here and take it back home with you.”
1 The Philistines Return the Ark When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,
2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying,“What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They replied,“If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you.”
4 They inquired,“What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?” They replied,“The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders.
18 another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboim in the direction of the desert.
13 Those who carried the ark of the LORD took six steps and then David sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf.
7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said,“The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked both us and our god Dagon!”
8 So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and asked,“What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied,“The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after it had been moved the LORD attacked that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city with sores.
10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying,“They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill our people!”
11 So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and said,“Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us and our people!” The terror of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.
12 The people who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.
6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said,“What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the LORD had arrived at the camp.
7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said,“Woe to us! We’ve never seen anything like this!
1 God Sends Trouble for the Philistines with the Ark Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.
6 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.
2 David and all the men who were with him traveled to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.
3 They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart.
4 They brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark,
3 When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said,“Why did the LORD let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies.”
11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.
17 The Leading of God When Pharaoh released the people, God did not lead them by the way to the land of the Philistines, although that was nearby, for God said,“Lest the people change their minds and return to Egypt when they experience war.”
21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions.
3 and commanded the people:“When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here and walk behind it.
38 The cattle numbered 36,000; the LORD’s tribute was 72.
7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines.
13 The Philistines again raided the valley.
2 When the leaders of the Philistines were passing in review at the head of their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing in review in the rear with Achish.
52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. They chased the Philistines to the valley and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
4 They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.
9 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to take hold of the ark, because the oxen stumbled.
7 They transported the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab; Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart,
11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.