1 After the sacred chest had been in Philistia for seven months, 2 the Philistines called in their priests and fortunetellers, and asked, “What should we do with this sacred chest? Tell us how to send it back where it belongs!”
3 “Don't send it back without a gift,” the priests and fortunetellers answered. “Send along something to Israel's God to make up for taking the chest in the first place. Then you will be healed, and you will find out why the Lord was causing you so much trouble.”
4 “What should we send?” the Philistines asked.
The priests and fortunetellers answered:
There are five Philistine rulers, and they all have the same disease that you have. 5 So make five gold models of the sores and five gold models of the rats that are wiping out your crops. If you honor the God of Israel with this gift, maybe he will stop causing trouble for you and your gods and your crops. 6 Don't be like the Egyptians and their king. They were stubborn, but when Israel's God was finished with them, they had to let Israel go.
7 Get a new cart and two cows that have young calves and that have never pulled a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take the calves back to their barn. 8 Then put the chest on the cart. Put the gold rats and sores into a bag and put it on the cart next to the chest. Then send it on its way.
9 Watch to see if the chest goes on up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-Shemesh. If it goes back to its own country, you will know that it was the Lord who made us suffer so badly. But if the chest doesn't go back to its own country, then the Lord had nothing to do with the disease that hit us—it was simply bad luck.
10 The Philistines followed their advice. They hitched up the two cows to the cart, but they kept their calves in a barn. 11 Then they put the chest on the cart, along with the bag that had the gold rats and sores in it.
12 The cows went straight up the road toward Beth-Shemesh, mooing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them until they got close to Beth-Shemesh.
13 The people of Beth-Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the chest, they were so happy that they stopped working and started celebrating.
14-15 The cows left the road and pulled the cart into a field that belonged to Joshua from Beth-Shemesh, and they stopped beside a huge rock. Some men from the tribe of Levi were there. So they took the chest off the cart and placed it on the rock, and then they did the same thing with the bag of gold rats and sores. A few other people chopped up the cart and made a fire. They killed the cows and burned them as sacrifices to the Lord. After that, they offered more sacrifices.
16 When the five rulers of the Philistines saw what had happened, they went back to Ekron that same day.
17 That is how the Philistines sent gifts to the Lord to make up for taking the sacred chest. They sent five gold sores, one each for their towns of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 They also sent one gold rat for each walled town and for every village that the five Philistine rulers controlled. The huge stone where the Levites set the chest is still there in Joshua's field as a reminder of what happened.
The Sacred Chest Is Sent to Kiriath-Jearim
19 Some of the men of Beth-Shemesh looked inside the sacred chest, and the Lord God killed 70 of them. This made the people of Beth-Shemesh very sad, 20 and they started saying, “No other God is like the Lord! Who can go near him and stay alive? We'll have to send the chest away from here. But where can we send it?”
21 They sent messengers to tell the people of Kiriath-Jearim, “The Philistines have sent back the sacred chest. Why don't you take it and keep it there with you?”
Omayaruriro wOtjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe
1 Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona tja kara mehi rOvafilisti oure womieze hambombari. 2 NOvafilisti va isana ovapristeri nozombetere nave pura nai: “Ngatu tjite vi nOtjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona? Tu tjiviseye kutja tji twa hindi koṋa ku tji kara, matu tji hindi na tjike?”
3 Nowo va zira nai: “Tji mamu yarura Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Ndjambi wOvaisrael, amu tji hindi uriri, nungwari yandjeye po otjiyandjewa tjokusuta ondjo yeṋu; indino mamu veruka, notji mamu tjivisiwa kutja mwa vererwa tjike.”
4 Novandu va pura ave tja: “Otjingee tjiyambo tji matuso okuyandja okusuta ondjo ku Ndjambi?”
Novapristeri nozombetere arire tji va ziri ave tja: “Yandjeye oviserekarera vitano vyomisuro vyeṋu vyongoldo, noviserekarera vitano vyomapuku vyongoldo otja kotjivaro tjozombara ndano zOvafilisti; orondu otjiwonga tjingetjo tja wira ku eṋe na kozombara zeṋu. 5 Ungureye oviserekarera vyomisuro vyeṋu novyomapuku ngu maye nyono ehi reṋu, nu mu yandje ondjozikiro ku Ndjambi wa Israel, ngahino eye ma isa okumuvera, eṋe noomukuru veṋu nehi reṋu. 6 Okutjavi tji mamu kukutisa omitima vyeṋu otja Ovaengipte na Farao tji va kukutisire omitima vyawo? Owo kave isire Ovaisrael ve tjinde, indu Ndjambi tja zire nokuveraisira omasa we are? 7 Nambano ungureye etemba epe, mu kambure ozongombe mbari ozondaambe nḓe hiya kutirwa, nu mu ze kutire ketemba; nu inḓa ozondana zazo puraureye nu mu ze hingire konganda. 8 Tjazumba turikeye Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona metemba, nu mokapwikiro inga komeṋe mu twe mo imbi ovihuze vyongoldo mbi mamu vanga okuyandja ku ye, vi rire ombunguhiro yokusuta ondjo, noko mu ke twe meṋe yOtjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe. Netemba ndi ri eseye ri yende orini, 9 nu mu tarere koṋa ku mari i; tji ra hungama kotjihuro Bet-Semes, mape hee kutja Ndjambi wOvaisrael ongwa hinda otjiwonga hi kombanda yetu. Nungwari tji ri ha hungamene koṋa ngo, matu tjiwa kutja ka ye ngwa hinda otjiwonga hi, nungwari tje ya otjini.”
10 Ovafilisti va tjita otja pu va raerwa; va kambura ozongombe mbari ozondaambe ave ze kutire ketemba nave puraurire inḓa ozondana monganda. 11 Nowo va turika Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona metemba pamwe nokapwikiro mu mwa ri oviserekarera vyongoldo vyomapuku novyomisuro vyawo. 12 Nu inḓa ozongombe ozondaambe za hungama osemba kObet-Semes; ozo za kayenda amaze vandara oruveze aruhe, nokuhinokuyepa kokunene poo kokumuho. Nozombara nḓa ndano zOvafilisti za teza ozongombe nḓa nga komukuro wa Bet-Semes.
13 Novature va Bet-Semes ave kondo ovikokotwa momahi womakunino wotjana. Nowo tji va era omeho wawo, arire tji va munu Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe nave nyanda tjinene. 14 Netemba re ya mehi romakunino rOmubetsemes Josua, nari kakurama mbo meṋe yewe enene. Novature va Bet-Semes va teya etemba ndi, ave ke omiti vyaro okuisapo ozonguṋe, ave zepa ozongombe ozondaambe nḓa nave ze punguhire Muhona ze rire ombunguhiro oningiririsiwa. 15 Ovalevi va herura Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona na inga okapwikiro mu mwa ri oviserekarera vyongoldo, nave vi twa kewe enene ndi. Novature va Bet-Semes va punguhira Muhona ozombunguhiro ozoningiririsiwa nozongwao zarwe meyuva ndo. 16 Nu inḓa ozombara ndano zOvafilisti tji za za nokumuna avihe mbi arire tji za yaruka kOekron meyuva tjingero ndo.
17 Nu imbi oviserekarera vyomisuro vyongoldo Ovafilisti mbi va hinda ku Muhona vi rire ombunguhiro yondjo vya yandjewa nai: Tjimwe kOasdod, tjimwe kOgat na tjimwe kOekron. 18 Owo wina va hinda imbi oviserekarera vyomapuku vyongoldo, tjimwe kotjihuro atjihe tjaa tji honaparerwa i ozombara ndano zOvafilisti, okutja kovihuro vyotumbo otuzeu, na kovirongo mbi hi notumbo. Nu ewe ndi enene ku va twa ihi Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona ra karira ehongonone raimbi mbya tjitwa mehi romakunino rOmubetsemes Josua, nga ku ndinondi. 19 Muhona wa zepa ovandu omirongo hambombari mokati kovature va Bet-Semes mena ratji va natera mOtjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona. Notjiwaṋa tja ṱoruhoze, Muhona tjinga a tjita otjiṱiro otjinene nai.
Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona mOkirjat-Jearim
20 Novature va Bet-Semes va tja nai: “Owaṋi ngu ma sora okuhupa komurungu wa Muhona, Ndjambi omuyapuke ngwi? Nambano matu tji hindi pi kutja tji ze po pu eṱe?” 21 Nowo va tuma ovahindwa kovature votjihuro Kirjat-Jearim nave kevetjivisa nai: “Ovafilisti va kotora Otjipwikiro tjOmerikutiropamwe wa Muhona; raukeye mu ye okutjieta!”
