nkjv 1Samuel:6:1-18 SEEK
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Now the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months .
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And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners ,
saying , "
What shall we do with the ark of the LORD ?
Tell us how we should send it to its place ."
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So they said , "
If you send away the ark of the God of Israel ,
do not send it empty ;
but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering .
Then you will be healed ,
and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you ."
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Then they said , "
What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him ?"
They answered , "
Five golden tumors and five golden rats ,
according to the number of the lords of the Philistines .
For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords .
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Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land ,
and you shall give glory to the God of Israel ;
perhaps He will lighten His hand from you ,
from your gods ,
and from your land .
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Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts ?
When He did mighty things among them ,
did they not let the people go ,
that they might depart ?
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Now therefore ,
make a new cart ,
take two milk cows which have never been yoked ,
and hitch the cows to the cart ;
and take their calves home ,
away from them .
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Then take the ark of the LORD and set it on the cart ;
and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side .
Then send it away ,
and let it go .
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And watch :
if it goes up the road to its own territory ,
to Beth Shemesh ,
then He has done us this great evil .
But if not ,
then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us--it happened to us by chance ."
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Then the men did so ;
they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart ,
and shut up their calves at home .
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And they set the ark of the LORD on the cart ,
and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors .
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Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh ,
and went along the highway ,
lowing as they went ,
and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left .
And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh .
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Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley ;
and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark ,
and rejoiced to see it .
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Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh ,
and stood there ;
a large stone was there .
So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD .
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The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it ,
in which were the articles of gold ,
and put them on the large stone .
Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the LORD .
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So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it ,
they returned to Ekron the same day .
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These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the LORD :
one for Ashdod ,
one for Gaza ,
one for Ashkelon ,
one for Gath ,
one for Ekron ;
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and the golden rats ,
according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords ,
both fortified cities and country villages ,
even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the LORD ,
which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh .