The Return of the Covenant Box
1 After the Lord's Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months, 2 the people called the priests and the magicians and asked, “What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the Lord? If we send it back where it belongs, what shall we send with it?”
3 They answered, “If you return the Covenant Box of the God of Israel, you must, of course, send with it a gift to him to pay for your sin. The Covenant Box must not go back without a gift. In this way you will be healed, and you will find out why he has kept on punishing you.”
4 “What gift shall we send him?” the people asked.
They answered, “Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings. 5 You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country, and you must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were? Don't forget how God made fools of them until they let the Israelites leave Egypt. 7 So prepare a new wagon and two cows that have never been yoked; hitch them to the wagon and drive their calves back to the barn. 8 Take the Lord's Covenant Box, put it on the wagon, and place in a box beside it the gold models that you are sending to him as a gift to pay for your sins. Start the wagon on its way and let it go by itself. 9 Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn't, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance.”
10 They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn. 11 They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors. 12 The cows started off on the road to Beth Shemesh and headed straight toward it, without turning off the road. They were mooing as they went. The five Philistine kings followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping wheat in the valley, when suddenly they looked up and saw the Covenant Box. They were overjoyed at the sight. 14 The wagon came to a field belonging to a man named Joshua, who lived in Beth Shemesh, and it stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the wooden wagon and killed the cows and burned them as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. 15 The Levites lifted off the Covenant Box of the Lord and the box with the gold models in it, and placed them on the large rock. Then the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt sacrifices and other sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five Philistine kings watched them do this and then went back to Ekron that same day.
17 The Philistines sent the five gold tumors to the Lord as a gift to pay for their sins, one each for the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 They also sent gold mice, one for each of the cities ruled by the five Philistine kings, both the fortified towns and the villages without walls. The large rock in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, on which they placed the Lord's Covenant Box, is still there as a witness to what happened.
19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.
The Covenant Box at Kiriath Jearim
20 So the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Where can we send him to get him away from us?” 21 They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, “The Philistines have returned the Lord's Covenant Box. Come down and get it.”
Kubgwiliziwa kwe Bhokisi le Tjidumano
1 Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe lakagala mu shango ye Bafilisitiya mwedzi ili kutendeka. 2 Ndizo Bafilisitiya bakadana bapirisiti ne ng'anga bakababhuzwa bakati, “Apa tithameni nge Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe kene? Mutibudze kuti tingalibgwiliza neni kanyi kwalo.”
3 Bakadabila beti, “Ha mubgwiliza Bhokisi le Tjidumano tje Ndzimu we Iziraela musitongo libgwiliza lisina tjalinatjo, koga sekwa mungatubula mulibgwilize kuuli ne tjibhayilo tje nlandu. Ndizo mowopodziwa, ngono mowoziba kuti ini Yahwe babe basingashanduse shamu yabo mu muli.”
4 Bafilisitiya bakabhuzwa bakati, “Apa ini tjatingayisa ku bali tjili tjibhayilo tje nlandu kene?”
Bakashandula beti, “Malonda mashanu e golide ne mbeba dzili shanu dze golide, kuyendidzana ne mbalo ye batungamili be Bafilisitiya, ngobe tjiga tjakamushingikalila mose ne batungamili benyu. 5 Ndizo bumbani zwifano zwe malonda yenyu ne zwifano zwe mbeba dzenyu zwinotjinya shango, ngono muyise gudzo ku Ndzimu we Iziraela, pamwe swiyo banowoshandusa shamu yabo mu muli ne mu midzimu yenyu ne mu shango yenyu. 6 Apa ini mungakukutadza moyo yenyu se Baegipiti na Faro bakakukutadza moyo yabo kene? Apa akuzoti shule kwe Ndzimu usinothama makaabadzo, bakaletja Baiziraela bakayenda, apa abazoyenda kene? 7 Ngono ngwenu lulwamisani kara tshwa ne ng'ombe mbili dzinokamiwa dzili dzisakatongo tilikwa jokwi, mudzisunge mu kara koga mudzithubukanye ne phulu dzadzo mudziyise kanyi. 8 Tolani Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe mulilonge mu kara, ngono zwifano zwe golide zwamunoyisa ku Iziraela zwili tjibhayilo tje nlandu, muzwilonge mu bhokisi mulibige pahwunde yalo. Ndizo mulitumile kuti liyende loga. 9 Ngono mulilinge, ha lingatobela zila inoyenda ku shango yalo lakalinga ku Bhetishemeshi, ndizo kulobgwa shamu kunogwadza zwingapa towobe takakuthamigwa ndi Yahwe. Koga ha kusakajalo, towoziba kuti ate shamu yabo yakatiloba, ngono tjiga tjakatiwilabo koga.”
10 Bathu bakathama beijalo, bakatola ng'ombe mbili dzinokamiwa bakadzisunga mu kara, ngono bakazhalilila phulu dzadzo mu danga. 11 Bakalonga Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe, ne bhokisi lina mbeba dze golide ne zwifano zwe malonda abo mu kara. 12 Ndizo ng'ombe dzikayenda dzakatambunuka nge zila inoyenda ku Bhetishemeshi, kusina padzinobhuda mu zila, dziyenda dzilila. Boshe be Bafilisitiya bakadzitobelela kudzina dzinoswika ku n'gathu we Bhetishemeshi.
13 Ipapo bathu be Bhetishemeshi bakabe bevuna korong yabo mu nkuku. Bakati bemilidza mesho bebona Bhokisi le Tjidumano, bakashathila kulibona. 14 Kara yakaswikila mu nnda wa Joshuwa we Bhetishemeshi, ngono ikama pa hwunde ne shongwe hwulu. Bathu bakaphapha hwuni dze kara, bakabhaya ng'ombe kupisila Yahwe tjibhayilo. 15 Balevi bakadelusila Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe pasi, kose ne bhokisi lakabe lina zwithu zwakathamwa nge golide, ngono bakaabiga pezhugwi kwe shongwe hwulu. Mu zhuba ilelo bathu be Bhetishemeshi bakadusila Yahwe zwipo bakabapisila zwibhayilo. 16 Kwakati boshe bashanu be Bafilisitiya bebona ikoku, bakashandukila ku Ekironi mu zhuba ilelo.
17 Iyawa ndiwo malonda e golide, akayisiwa nge Bafilisitiya ali tjibhayilo tje nlandu kuna Yahwe: Limwe lili le Ashidodi, limwe lili le Gaza, limwe lili le Ashikeloni, limwe lili le Gati ne limwe lili le Ekironi. 18 Mbeba dze golide na idzobo, kuyendidzana ne mbalo ye mizi mikulu yose ye Bafilisitiya ya boshe bali bashanu, mizi yakabe yakabakiligwa nenge mizi yakabe isakabakiligwa. Shongwe hwulu, yabakadelusila Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe, tjitendeki mu nnda wa Joshuwa we Bhetishemeshi na nasi.
19 Ngono Ndzimu wakabulaya bamwe be balume be Bhetishemeshi, wakabulaya bali makumi ali kutendeka (70), ngobe bakabe bashozhela mukati kwe Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe. Bathu bakalila, ngobe Yahwe bakathama kubulaya kukulu mu bathu.
Bhokisi le Tjidumano liku Kiriatijearimu
20 Bathu be Bhetishemeshi bakati, “Apa ndiani ungatubula kuma mbeli kwa Yahwe kene, Ndzimu iwoyu wakayengemala? Apa Bhokisi le Tjidumano lowoyenda kuna ani kudwa mutili kene?” 21 Bakatuma batumwa ku bathu be Kiriatijearimu kunobadwa beti, “Bafilisitiya bakabuza Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe, ngono izhani mulitolele kumuli.”