Return of the Ark to Israel
1 Kingdoms 6, verse 1. For seven months the ark was in the country of the Philistines, and their land was infested with mice. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 2. And the Philistines called for their priests, their prophets, and their enchanters, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Instruct us as to how we should return it to its place.” 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 3. So they said, “If you send away the ark of the covenant of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty. Instead, give it as an offering for the plague. Then you shall be healed and be atoned for. Otherwise His hand may never be removed from you.” 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 4. Then they said, “What shall we offer to Him for this torment?” They answered, “Five golden emerods for each of the number of lords of the Philistines, since the same offense was on all of you, on your leaders and the people. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 5. And for each lord, add a gold mouse that images the mice utterly ravaging your land. Then you shall give glory to the Lord; perhaps He may lighten His hand from you, from off your gods, and from off your land. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 6. Why do you yet harden your hearts, as did Egypt, and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? Was it not when he mocked them that they let the people go, and they departed? 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 7. Now therefore, make a new wagon and take two cows with firstborn calves, and hitch the cows to the wagon. But lead the newly born calves to the pen. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 8. Now take the ark and set it on the wagon, and place the offering of the golden vessels you shall render to Him in a chest next to it. And send it away and let it depart. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 9. Then you shall see; if it goes through Beth Shemesh, by way of the coasts, then He brought upon us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know His hand did not touch us, but only by mere chance.” 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 10. And the Philistines did so. They took two cows, each having firstborn calves, and hitched them to the wagon, putting the calves into the pen. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 11. Onto the wagon they placed the ark, and the chest, and the mice made of gold. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 12. The cows went straight ahead, by way of Beth-Shemesh, on the only beaten path. They proceeded and labored and did not turn aside either to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed it to the border of Beth-Shemesh. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 13. Now the men of Beth-Shemesh were in the valley to reap the harvest of their wheat. They lifted up their eyes and saw the ark of the Lord, and they rejoiced to greet it. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 14. The wagon came to a stop in the field of Joshua of Beth-Shemesh. And next to the wagon they set a large stone. They split the wood of the wagon and offered the cows as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 15. The Levites took up the ark of the Lord and with it the chest and the gold vessels and put them on the large stone. And on this day the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 16. So when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned on the same day to Ashkelon. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 17. These are the places the gold emerods were given as an offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 18. And the gold mice were according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, from the cities being fortified as far as the villages of Pherezite, and as far as the great stone where they placed the ark of the covenant of the Lord, in the field of Joshua of Beth-Shemesh. 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 19. Now the sons of Jechoniah were not pleased, nor were the people of Beth-Shemesh, because as they looked at the ark of the Lord, the Lord smote fifty thousand and seventy men from among them. And the people mourned because of the people the Lord smote such a deadly blow.
The Ark at Kirjath Jearim
1 Kingdoms 6, verse 20. And the men of Beth-Shemesh said, “Who shall be able to come before this holy Lord? And to whom shall the ark of the Lord go up from us?” 1 Kingdoms 6, verse 21. So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, so come down and take it up with you.”