6Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months, ²and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.” ³They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.” ⁴And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors^a and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers. ⁵You must make images of your tumors^b and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land. ⁶Why should you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left? ⁷So then, prepare^c one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall. ⁸And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering. You must place them in the container^d beside the ark and then send it off so that it goes away. ⁹You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to come on us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it was by chance that this happened to us. ¹⁰So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall. ¹¹Then they put the ark of Yahweh on the utility cart with the container^e holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors. ¹²The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, lowing as they went.^f They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of the Philistines were walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.

¹³Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley. They lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and they were glad to see it. ¹⁴The utility cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there was a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹⁵Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container^g that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and they set them on the large stone.^h Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they madeⁱ sacrifices to Yahweh on that day. ¹⁶The five rulers of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that same day.

¹⁷Now these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. ¹⁸And the gold mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, for their five rulers, from the fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, where they set^j the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. ¹⁹He^k struck seventy men^l among the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. So the people mourned because Yahweh had struck a great blow among the people. ²⁰Then the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom shall it^m go up from us?” ²¹So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to yourselves.”

Revival and Victory at Mizpah

7The men of Kiriath Jearim came and brought up the ark of Yahweh, and they brought it to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah. They consecrated Eleazer his son to guard the ark of Yahweh. ²From^a the day the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, days multiplied and became twenty years^b while all the house of Israel mourned after Yahweh. ³And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If with all your heart you are turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths^c from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴So the Israelites^d removed the Baals^e and the Ashtoreths, and they served Yahweh alone.

⁵Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you.” ⁶So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against Yahweh!” So Samuel judged the Israelites^f at Mizpah. ⁷Now when the Philistines heard that the Israelites^g had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the Israelites^h heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.ⁱ ⁸Then the Israelites^j said to Samuel, “You must not cease^k from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹So Samuel took a single nursing lamb^l and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him. ¹⁰While^m Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against the Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel. ¹¹Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car.

¹²So Samuel took a single stone and put it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, “Up to here Yahweh has helped us.” ¹³So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come into the territory of Israel again, and the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴The townsⁿ which the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of the Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

The Circuit Ministry of Samuel

¹⁵Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶He used to go on the circuit from year to year.^o He went around Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷Then he returned^p to Ramah, because his house was there, and there he judged Israel, and he built an altar to Yahweh there.

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Footnotes

aThe Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “boils”; the reading tradition (Qere) has “tumors”
bThe Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “boils”; the reading tradition (Qere) has “tumors”
cLiterally “take and make”
dOr perhaps “chest” or “bag”
eOr perhaps “chest” or “bag”
fLiterally “they went going and lowing”
gOr perhaps “chest” or “bag”
hThe Masoretic Hebrew text reads “Abel” here; some Hebrew manuscripts and LXX read “stone” (see 6:14–15)
iLiterally “sacrificed”
jLiterally “which they set down on it”
kThat is, Yahweh
lThough the MT has “seventy men, fifty thousand men” (= 50,070), it is likely the original was “seventy men”
mThat is, the ark of the covenant (alternatively read as “he,” referring to Yahweh)
aLiterally “And it happened from”
bLiterally “and the days were numerous, and they were twenty years”
cHebrew plural “Ashtaroth” (Ashtoreth was the female consort of Ba’al)
dLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
eHebrew plural “Be’alim” (Ba’al was a major Canaanite deity)
fLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
gLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
hLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
iLiterally “and they were afraid from (= because of) the presence of the Philistines”
jLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
kLiterally “You must not be silent from us”
lLiterally “lamb of milk”
mLiterally “And it happened”
nOr “cities”
oLiterally “from what is required year in year”
pLiterally “and his return was”