1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and ^athe diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^ba guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^chis hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^dtumors and five golden mice, ^eaccording to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 So you must make images of your ^dtumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^fand give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^ghe will lighten his hand from off you ^hand your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as ⁱthe Egyptians and ^jPharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^kdid they not send the people away, and they departed? 7 Now then, take and prepare ^la new cart and two milk cows ^mon which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ⁿthe figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^ba guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^oBeth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^phis hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors.