1 WYC Therfor the arke of the Lord was in the cuntrei of Filisteis bi seuene monethis; BSB BSB: When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months,
2 WYC and aftir these thingis Filisteis clepiden preestis and false dyuynours, and seiden, What schulen we do of the arke of God? Shewe ye to vs, hou we schulen sende it in to his place. BSB BSB: the Philistines summoned the priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it back to its place.”
3 WYC Whiche seiden, If ye senden ayen the arke of God of Israel, nyle ye delyuere it voide, but yelde ye to hym that, that ye owen for synne; and thanne ye schulen be heelid, and ye schulen wite, whi `his hond goith not awei fro you. BSB BSB: They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.”
4 WYC And thei seiden, What is it, that we owen to yelde to hym for trespas? BSB BSB: “What guilt offering should we send back to Him?” asked the Philistines. “Five gold tumors and five gold rats,” they said, “according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.
5 WYC And thei answeriden to hem, Bi the noumbre of prouynces of Filisteis ye schulen make fyue goldun ersis, and fyue goldun myis; for o veniaunce was to alle you and to youre `wise men, ether princes. And ye schulen make the licnesse of youre ersis, and the licnesse of myis that distriede youre lond; and ye schulen yyue glorie to God of Israel, if in hap he withdrawe his hond fro you, and fro youre goddis, and fro youre lond. BSB BSB: Make images of your tumors and of the rats that are ravaging the land. Give glory to the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.
6 WYC Whi maken ye heuy youre hertis, as Egipt, and Farao `made heuy his herte? Whether not after that he was smytun, thanne he delyuerede hem, and thei yeden forth? BSB BSB: Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people out so they could go on their way?
8 WYC And ye schulen take the arke of the Lord, and ye schulen sette in the wayn; and ye schulen put in a panyere at the side therof the goldun vessels, whiche ye payeden to hym for trespas; and delyuere ye the arke, that it go. BSB BSB: Take the ark of the LORD, set it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to Him as a guilt offering. Then send the ark on its way,
9 WYC And ye schulen biholde, and sotheli if it stieth ayens Bethsames bi the weie of `hise coostis, `he dide to you this greet yuel; but if nay, we schulen wite `for his hond touchide not vs, but `if it bifelde bi hap. BSB BSB: but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”
10 WYC Therfor thei diden in this manere; and thei token twei kien that yauen mylk to caluys, and ioyneden to the wayn; and thei closiden her caluys at hoome. BSB BSB: So the men did as instructed. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves.
11 WYC And thei puttiden the arke of God on the wayn, and `thei puttiden the panyere, that hadde the goldun myis, and the licnesse of ersis `on the wayn. BSB BSB: Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest containing the gold rats and the images of the tumors.
12 WYC Sotheli the kien yeden streiytli bi the weie that ledith to Bethsames; and tho yeden in o weie goynge and lowynge, and bowiden not nether to the riyt side nether to the left side; but also the wise men of Filisteis sueden `til to the termes of Bethsames. BSB BSB: And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
13 WYC Forsothe men of Bethsames repiden whete in the valey, and thei reisiden the iyen, and sien the arke, and thei weren ioyful, whanne thei hadden sien `the arke. BSB BSB: Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight.
14 WYC And the wayn cam in to the feelde of Josue of Bethsames, and stood there. Forsothe a greet stoon was there; and thei kittiden `the trees of the wayn, and puttiden the kien `on tho trees, a brent sacrifice to the Lord. BSB BSB: The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
15 WYC Sotheli dekenes token doun the arke of God, and the panyere, that was bisidis it, where ynne the goldun vessels weren; and thei settiden on the greet stoon. Forsothe the men of Bethsames offriden brent sacrifices, and offriden slayn sacrifices in that dai `to the Lord. BSB BSB: And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.
16 WYC And fyue princes of Filisteis sien, and turneden ayen in to Accoron in that dai. BSB BSB: And when the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17 WYC Sotheli these ben the goldun ersis, whiche the Filisteis yeldiden to the Lord for trespas; Azotus yeldide oon; Gaza yeldide oon; Ascolon yeldide oon; Geth yeldide oon; Accaron yeldide oon; BSB BSB: As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.
18 WYC and Filisteis yeldiden golden myis bi the noumbre of `citees of Filisteis of fyue prouynces, fro a wallid citee `til to `a town that was with out wal, and `til to the greet Abel, `on which thei puttiden the arke of the Lord, that was there `til in that dai in the feeld of Josue of Bethsames. BSB BSB: The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers—the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19 WYC Forsothe the Lord smoot of the men of Bethsames, for thei hadden seyn the arke of the Lord, and he smoot of the puple seuenti men, and fifty thousynde of the porail. And the puple morenyde, for the Lord hadde smyte `the puple with greet veniaunce. BSB BSB: But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter.
20 WYC And men of Bethsames seiden, Who schal now stonde in the siyt of the Lord God of this hooli thing, and to whom schal it stie fro vs? BSB BSB: The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”
21 WYC And thei senten messangeris to the dwelleris of Cariathiarym, and seiden, Filisteis han brouyt ayen the arke of the Lord; come ye doun, and lede it ayen to you. BSB BSB: So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”
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