1 And the ark was seven months in the country of the Philistines, and their land brought forth swarms of mice. 2 And the Philistines call their priests, and their diviners, and their enchanters, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? teach us with what we shall send it away to its place. 3 And they said, If you send away the ark of the covenant of the Lord God of Israel, do not on any account send it away empty, but by all means render to it an offering for the plague; and then you shall be healed, and an atonement shall be made for you: should not his hand be thus stayed from you? 4 And they say, What is the offering for the plague which we shall return to it? and they said, According to the number of the lords of the Philistines, five golden tumors, for the plague was on you, and on your rulers, and on the people. 5 And golden mice, the likeness of the mice that destroy your land: and you shall give glory to the Lord, that he may lighten his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land. 6 And why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? was it not so when he mocked them, that they let the people go, and they departed? 7 And now take and make a new wagon, and take two cows, that have calved for the first time, without their calves; and yoke the cows to the wagon, and lead away the calves from behind them home. 8 And you shall take the ark and put it on the wagon; and you shall restore to it the golden articles for the trespass-offering in a coffer by the side of it: and you shall let it go, and send it away, and it shall depart. 9 And you shall see, if it shall go the way of its borders along by Beth Shemesh, he has brought upon us this great affliction; and if not, then we shall know that his hand has not touched us, but this is a chance which has happened to us. 10 And the Philistines did so; and they took two cows that had calved for the first time, and yoked them to the wagon, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark, and the coffer, and the golden mice, on the wagon. 12 And the cows went straight on the way to the way of Beth Shemesh, they went along one track; and labored, and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after it as far as the borders of Beth Shemesh. 13 And the men of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark of the Lord, and rejoiced to meet it. 14 And the wagon entered into the field of Hoshea, which was in Beth Shemesh, and they set there by it a great stone; and they split the wood of the wagon, and offered up the cows for a whole burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites brought up the ark of the Lord, and the coffer with it, and the golden articles upon it, and placed them on the great stone, and the men of Beth Shemesh offered whole burnt offerings and sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 And the five lords of the Philistines saw, and returned to Ashkelon in that day. 17 And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines gave as a trespass-offering to the Lord; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one. 18 And the golden mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, belonging to the five lords, from the fenced city to the village of the Perizzite, and to the great stone, on which they placed the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that was in the field of Hoshea the Beth-Shemite. 19 And the sons of Jeconiah were not pleased with the men of Beth Shemesh, because they saw the ark of the Lord; and the Lord struck among them seventy men, and fifty thousand men:⁠a and the people mourned, because the Lord had inflicted on the people, a very great plague. 20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who shall be able to pass before this holy Lord? and to whom shall the ark of the Lord go up from us? 21 And they send messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, go down and take it home to yourselves.