And the ark of יהוה was in the field of the Pelishtim seven months.

And the Pelishtim called the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of יהוה? Make known to us with what we shall send it to its place.

And they said, If you send away the ark of the Elohim of Yisra'el, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return it with a guilt offering. Then you shall be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand does not turn away from you.

And they said, What is the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? And they said, According to the number of the rulers of the Pelishtim, five golden tumors and five golden mice, for one plague was on all of them and on your rulers.

And you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that are destroying the land, and you shall give glory to the Elohim of Yisra'el. Perhaps He will lighten His hand from upon you and from upon your elohim and from upon your land.

And why do you harden your hearts, as the Mitsrayim and Par'oh hardened their hearts? Was it not, when He dealt terribly with them, that they sent them away, and they went?

And now, take and make one new cart and two milk cows on which no yoke has been placed. And you shall tie the cows to the cart, and return their young ones to the house behind them.

And you shall take the ark of יהוה and place it on the cart, and the golden vessels which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering, you shall put in the chest by its side. And you shall send it away, and it shall go.

And you shall see, if it goes up on its way to its border toward Beit Shemesh, then He has done this great evil to us. But if not, then we shall know that His hand did not strike us; it was a chance that happened to us.

And the men did so. And they took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their young ones in the house.

And they placed the ark of יהוה on the cart, and the chest, and the golden mice, and the images of their tumors.

And the cows went straight on the road, on the road to Beit Shemesh. They went on the highway, going and mooing, and they did not turn right or left. And the rulers of the Pelishtim were going after them, up to the border of Beit Shemesh.

And Beit Shemesh were harvesting the wheat harvest in the valley. And they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and they rejoiced to see.

And the cart came into the field of Yehoshua the Beit-Shimshi, and it stood there. And there was a great stone. And they split the wood of the cart, and they offered the cows as a burnt offering to יהוה.

And the Levites took down the ark of יהוה, and the chest that was with it, in which were the golden vessels. And they placed them on the great stone. And the men of Beit Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to יהוה.

And the five rulers of the Pelishtim saw, and they returned to 'Eqron on that day.

And these are the golden tumors which the Pelishtim returned as a guilt offering to יהוה: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashqelon, one for Gat, one for 'Eqron.

And the golden mice, the number of all the cities of the Pelishtim belonging to the five rulers, from city of fortress even to village of the country, and even to the great Hevel on which they placed the ark of יהוה, up to this day, in the field of Yehoshua the Beit-Shimshi.

And He struck the men of Beit Shemesh because they looked at the ark of יהוה. And He struck the people, seventy men, fifty thousand men. And the people mourned because יהוה had struck the people with a great blow.

And the men of Beit Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Elohim, יהוה? And to whom shall it ascend from us?

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Qiryat Yearim, saying, The Pelishtim have returned the ark of יהוה. Come down, bring it up to you.