ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ge ra sî-oahe
1 Hû kurigas ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb disa Filisteǁîn di ǃhūb ǃnâ hâs khaoǃgân 2 ge Filisteǁîna pristergu tsî aimûǀgaru-aogu tsîna ǂgai tsî ge dî: “Tare-e da ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb dis ǀkha nî dī? Mîba da re mâti da ǁîsa ǁîs di ǃkhais ǂûs ǁga nî sî-oa ǃkhaisa.”
3 O gu ge ge ǃeream: “ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Israeli di Elob disa du ga sî-oa, o du ge ǁîsa ǀkhaexū-i ose sî tide. ǁÎsa du ge sadu ǁoreb ǃaroma ǀkhaexū-i ǀkha nî sî. O du ge ǂgau tsî tare-i ǃaromab gere ǁkhara du ǃkhaisa nî ǂan.”
4 “Mâ ǀkhaexū-e da ǁîs ǀkha nî sî?” tin ge Filisteǁîna ge dî.
O gu ge ge ǃeream: “Koro ǃhuniǀuri īgu tsuidi digu tsî koro ǃhuniǀuri durudi tsîna Filisteǁîn ǂgaeǂgui-aogu kō ǀgaus ǃoa, ǁkhā tsûtsû-ais ǁkhās ge sadu tsî sadu koro ǂgaeǂgui-aogu ǂama hâ i xui-ao. 5 Īgu sadu tsuidi digu tsî durun sadu ǃhūba ra hîkākān tsîn diga kuru, î du ǁnā ǀgaus ai Israeli di Eloba ǃgôasiba mā. ǀNîsib ge ǃaruǀî sadu tsî sadu elogu tsî sadu ǃhūb tsîna ǁkhara tide. 6 Tare xū-i ǃaroma du Egipteǁîn tsî Faraob tsîn ge ǃnâudanaxa i khami nî ǃnâudanaxa? Elob ge ǁîna ǃgomma tsâ kai, on ge ǁîna Israelǁîna ge doe kai. 7 ǀAsa kuni-e nēsi ǂhomi, î ǀgam ǁoragomara, noxopa ǂgāǃaohetsâ tama ra ū, î ǁîra kunis ǃnâ ǂgāǃao, î tsâun âra oms tawa ū-oa. 8 Î du ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb disa ū tsî kunis ai ǃnao, î ǃhuniǀuri xūn, ǀkhaexūn ase du ǃKhūba sadu ǁoren ǃaroma ra māna ǂgaero-i ǃnâ ǁîs xōǀkhā mâi. ǁÎsa ǁnāxū, îs gomara xa aiǃâ ǃkhoe-ūhe. 9 Î du ǃgaoǃgâ; ǁîs di ǃhūb ǃoa garu daob ais ga Bet-Semes ǃoa ǃgû, o da ge a ǂan Israelǁîn Elob a ǃkhaisa, nē kai ǂkhôaba ge sada ǂama hā-ūba. ǁNā tamas ka i, o da nēna ge sîb ǁî tama tsîn ge nēna aitsama a ī ǃkhaisa a ǂan.”
10 On ge Filisteǁîna ǁnāti ge dī. ǁÎn ge ǀgam gomara ū tsî kunis ǃnâ ǂgāǃao tsî tsâun âra ǃharas ǃnâ ge ǂganamǂgā. 11 Tsîn ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb disa kunis ai ge ǃnao tsî ǁkhāti ǁnā ǂgaeros ǃhuniǀuri durudi tsî tsuidi di īgu hâǃnâs ona. 12 Tsî gomara ge ǂhanuse daob ǀguib ǀkha Bet-Semes ǁga ge ǃgû, ǃgō garu rase. ǁÎra ge amǀkhābǀîs kas, ǁareǀkhābǀîs kas hoasa daoba xu ge ǁgôa tama hâ i tsî Filisteǁîn di ǂgaeǂgui-aogu ge ǁîra Bet-Semes di ǀkharib kōse ge sao.
13 Khoen Bet-Semes din ge ǃgoab ǃnâ ǃhoroba gere ǃgao, tsî ǃnapetamasen ge kōkhâi tsî ǂgaesa a mû, on ge kaise ge ǃgâiaǂgao. 14 Tsî kunis ge Josuab, Bet-Semes ǁanaob di ǃhanab tawa ge sī tsî kai ǀuis tawa sī ge mâ. On ge khoena kunis haina ǁhāǃā tsî gomara ǂā tsî ǁgan-e khauǁguibase ǃKhūba ge ǁguiba. 15 Nēn ra ī ǁaeb ǃnâ gu ge Leviǁîga ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb dis tsî ǁnā ǂgaeros ǁîs xōǀkhā mâs, ǃhuniǀuri xūn hâǃnâs ona ūǁnâ tsî ǁîra kai ǀuis ai ge mâi. ǁNā tsēs ain ge Bet-Semes khoena khauǁguibadi tsî ǂāǁguibadi tsîna ǃKhūba ge ǁguiba. 16 Tsî koro ǂgaeǂgui-aogu Filisteǁîn digu ge nēna gu ge mûo, ǁnā tsēs ǁkhās ai Ekrons ǁga ge oa.
17 Tsî ǃhuniǀuri tsuidi īgu, Filisteǁîn ge ǃKhūba ǁoreb ân ǃaroma ǀkhaegu ge; ǀguiba Asdods ǃaroma, ǀguiba Gasas ǃaroma, ǀguiba Askelons ǃaroma, ǀguiba Gats ǃaroma tsî ǀguiba Ekrons ǃaroma ge hâ i. 18 Tsî ǃhuniǀuri durudi di īgu ge koro ǂgaeǂgui-aogu Filisteǁîn digu di ǃādi, ǂnubiǂgoaga ūhâdi tsî ūhâ tamadi tsîn ǃaroma ge hâ i. Kai ǀuis, ǁîs ai gu ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb disa a mâis ge nētsēs kōse ǃkhō-ams ase Josuab, Bet-Semes dib di ǃhanab ǃnâ mâ.
19 ǃKhūb ge Bet-Semes khoena ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃnân ge ǂui ǃkhais ǃaroma ge ǁkhara tsî gu ge hûdisi khoega ǁîn ǃnâ ge ǁō. On ge ge ǃoa, ǃKhūb ge ǁîna kaise ǃgomse ǁkhara xui-ao.
ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Kirjat-Jearims tawa
20 ǁNās khaoǃgân ge Bet-Semes khoena ge mî: “Tari-e a mâ ǁkhā ǃKhūb, nē ǃanu Elob di ais aiǃâ? Mâǀî da ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes Elob disa a sî ǁkhā, îs sida xu bē?” 21 Tsîn ge sîsabega Kirjat-Jearims di ǁanǂgāsaben ǃoa ge sî mî raǃâ: “Filisteǁîn ge ǃGaeǀhaos ǂGaes ǃKhūb disa ǁkhawa go hā-ū. Hā, î du ǁîsa ū tsî sado ǃoa ǃgû-ū.”
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.”
