The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months.
1
And the Aron Hashem was in the teritory of the Pelishtim (Philistines) shivah chodashim.
2 And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place?
2
And the Pelishtim (Philistines) called for the [Dagon] kohanim and the kosemim (sorcerers), saying, What shall we do with the Aron Hashem? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to its makom (place).
3 And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you.
3
And they said, If ye send away the Aron Elohei Yisroel, send it not away empty; but ye shall surely return to Him an asham (trespass offering); then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why His Yad is not removed from you.
4 Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords.
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Then they said, What shall be the asham (trespass offering) which we shall return to Him? They answered, Five techorim of zahav, and five akhbarim (rats) of zahav, according to the number of rulers of the Pelishtim: for one magefah (plague) was on you all, and on your rulers.
5 So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land.
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So ye shall make tzalmei techorim (likenesses of tumors) of yours, and tzalmei akhabarim (likenesses of rats) of yours, of that which mar the land; and ye shall give kavod unto Elohei Yisroel; perhaps He will lighten His Yad from off you, and from off eloheichem (your g-ds), and from off your land.
6 Why do you make your hearts hard, like the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians? When he had made sport of them, did they not let the people go, and they went away?
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Now then why do ye harden levavchem, as the Mitzrayim and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not send them away, so that they departed?
7 So now, take and make ready a new cart, and two cows which have never come under the yoke, and have the cows yoked to the cart, and take their young ones away from them:
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Now therefore make an agalah chadashah (new cart, wagon), and take two milch [milk-yielding] cows, [i.e., nursing cows] on which there hath come no ol (yoke), and hitch the cows to the agalah, and take their calves home, away from them;
8 And put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the gold images which you are sending as a sin-offering in a chest by its side; and send it away so that it may go.
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And take the Aron Hashem, and lay it upon the agalah; and put the kelei hazahav, which ye send back to Him for an asham (trespass offering), in a box by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
9 If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance.
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And see: if it [the Aron Hashem] goeth up by the derech of its own territory [i.e., Eretz Yisroel] toward Beit Shemesh, then He hath done us this ra’ah hagedolah (great disaster); but if not, then we shall know that it is not His Yad that struck us; the evil came upon us mikreh (by chance, by accident).
10 And the men did so; they took two cows, yoking them to the cart and shutting up their young ones in their living-place:
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And the anashim did so; and took two milch cows, and hitched them to the agalah, and penned up their calves babayit;
11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold images.
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And they laid the Aron Hashem upon the agalah, and the box with the akhbarim of zahav and the tzalmei techorim (likenesses of tumors) of theirs.
12 And the cows took the straight way, by the road to Beth-shemesh; they went by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, and the sound of their voices was clear on the road; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the edge of Beth-shemesh.
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And the cows took the straight derech to the derech Beit Shemesh, and went along the path, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the yamin or to the semol; and the rulers of the Pelishtim went after them as far as the border of Beit Shemesh.
13 And the people of Beth-shemesh were cutting their grain in the valley, and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark and were full of joy when they saw it.
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And they of Beit Shemesh were kotzerim (harvesting) their ketzir chittim (wheat harvest) in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the Aron, and they rejoiced to see it.
14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord.
14
And the agalah came into the sadeh of Yehoshua, a man of Beit Shemesh, and stopped there, where there was an even gedolah (a large rock); and they chopped up the wood of the agalah, and offered the cows as an olah (burnt offering) unto Hashem.
15 Then the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest in which were the gold images, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh made burned offerings and gave worship that day before the Lord.
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And the Levi’im took down the Aron Hashem, and the box that was with it, wherein were the kelei zahav, and put them on the even hagedolah (large rock); and the anashim of Beit Shemesh offered olot (burnt offerings) and sacrificed zevakhim (sacrifices) on that day unto Hashem.
16 And the five lords of the Philistines, having seen it, went back to Ekron the same day.
16
And when the five rulers of the Pelishtim saw it, they returned to Ekron on that same day.
17 Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;
17
And these are the techorim (tumors) of zahav which the Pelishtim (Philistines) returned for an asham (trespass offering) unto Hashem; for Ashdod one, for Azah (Gaza) one, for Askelon one, for Gat one, for Ekron one;
18 And the gold mice, one for every town of the Philistines, the property of the five lords, walled towns as well as country places: and the great stone where they put the ark of the Lord is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite to this day.
18
And the akhbarim of zahav, according to the mispar of all the towns of the Pelishtim (Philistines) belonging to the five rulers, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even unto Avel HaGedolah, whereon they set down the Aron Hashem; it (the even hagedolah [See verse 15]) remaineth unto this day in the sadeh of Yehoshua, the man of Beit Shemesh.
19 But the Lord sent destruction on seventy men of the people of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark of the Lord; and great was the sorrow of the people for the destruction which the Lord had sent on them.
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And He struck down the anashim of Beit Shemesh, because they had looked into the Aron Hashem [Num 4:20], even He struck down of HaAm shivim ish [and chamishim elef ish]; and HaAm mourned, because Hashem had struck down many of HaAm with a makkah gedolah (a great stroke, blow).
20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to keep his place before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom may he go from us?
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And the anashim of Beit Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Hashem HaElohim HaKadosh Hazeh (Hashem this holy G-d)? And to whom shall He [Hashem dwelling with the Aron Hashem] go up from us?
21 And they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord; come and take it up to your country.
21
And they sent malachim to the inhabitants of Kiryat Ye’arim saying, The Pelishtim (Philistines) have returned the Aron Hashem; come ye down, and take it up to you.
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The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.