1Samuel 6 - Prayer Tents



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1Samuel 6
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1Samuel 6

The Philistines Return the Ark

6The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory seven months in all.H727H3068H7704H6430H7651H2320 2Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, "What should we do about the Ark of the LORD? Tell us how to return it to its own country."H6430H7121H3548H7080H559H6213H727H3068H3045H7971H4725 3"Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift," they were told. "Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague."H559H7971H727H430H3478H7971H7387H7725H7725H817H7495H3045H3027H5493 4"What sort of guilt offering should we send?" they asked. And they were told, "Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land.H559H817H7725H559H2568H2091H2914H6076H2568H2091H5909H4557H5633H6430H259H4046H5633 5Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land.H6213H6754H2914H6076H6754H5909H7843H776H5414H3519H430H3478H7043H3027H430H776 6Don't be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.H3513H3824H4714H6547H3513H3820H5953H7971H3212 7"Now build a new cart, and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them in a pen.H6213H259H2319H5699H3947H8147H5763H6510H5927H5923H631H6510H5699H7725H1121H1004H310 8Put the Ark of the LORD on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want.H3947H727H3068H5414H5699H7760H3627H2091H7725H817H712H6654H7971H1980 9If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the LORD who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don't, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance."H7200H5927H1870H1366H1053H6213H1419H7451H3045H3027H5060H4745H1961 10So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up in a pen.H582H6213H3947H8147H5763H6510H631H5699H3607H1121H1004 11Then the Ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart.H7760H727H3068H5699H712H5909H2091H6754H2914 12And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.H6510H3474H1870H1870H1053H1980H4546H259H1600H1980H5493H3225H8040H5633H6430H1980H310H1366H1053 13The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed!H1053H7114H2406H7105H6010H5375H5869H7200H727H8055H7200 14The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the LORD as a burnt offering.H5699H935H7704H3091H1030H5975H1419H68H1234H6086H5699H5927H6510H5930H3068 15Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the LORD that day by the people of Beth-shemesh.H3881H3381H727H3068H712H3627H2091H7760H1419H68H582H1053H5927H5930H2076H2077H3117H3068 16The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day.H2568H5633H6430H7200H7725H6138H3117 17The five gold tumors sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering to the LORD were gifts from the rulers of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.H2091H2914H6430H7725H817H3068H795H259H5804H259H831H259H1661H259H6138H259 18The five gold rats represented the five Philistine towns and their surrounding villages, which were controlled by the five rulers. The large rock at Beth-shemesh, where they set the Ark of the LORD, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.H2091H5909H4557H5892H6430H2568H5633H4013H5892H6521H3724H1419H59H3240H727H3068H3117H7704H3091H1030

The Ark Moved to Kiriath-Jearim

19But the LORD killed seventy menc from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the LORD. And the people mourned greatly because of what the LORD had done.H5221H376H1053H7200H727H3068H5221H5971H2572H505H7657H582H5971H56H3068H5221H5971H1419H4347 20"Who is able to stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?" they cried out. "Where can we send the Ark from here?"H582H1053H559H3201H5975H6440H6918H3068H430H5927 21So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, "The Philistines have returned the Ark of the LORD. Come here and get it!"H7971H4397H3427H7157H559H6430H7725H727H3068H3381H5927


New Living Translation (NLT). Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. More details.
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