1 Samuel 6

Matthew^{(i) 1} And so when the arcke of the Lord had bene in the countreye of the Philistines .vij. moneths, ² the Philistines called for the priestes & the sothsayers, sayinge: what shall we do wyth the arcke of the Lorde? tell vs wherwith we shall sende it home agayne. ³ They aunswered: yf you send the arcke of the God of Israel home agayne, send it not emptye: But rewarde it with a trespasse offeryng: and then ye shalbe hole, and it shalbe knowen to you, why hys hand departeth not from you. ⁴ Then sayde they: what shalbe the trespace offerynge which we shal rewarde hym with? And they answered: fyue golden arsses with Emerodes and fyue golden myce, accordyng to the nombre of the Lordes of the Philistines. For it was one maner of plage that was on you al, & on your Lordes to. ⁵ Wherfore ye shal make ymages lyke to your arsses with Emerodes & ymages lyke to your mice that destroyed your lande, & shall geue glorye vnto the god of Israel: that he maye take his hand from of you, and from of youre Goddes, and from of your lande. ⁶ Wherfore shulde ye harden your hertes as the Egypcians & Pharao hardened theyr hertes, which for all that (when he had played hys pageauntes wyth them) were fayne to let the people go and departe. ⁷ Now therfore make a newe carte and take two mealche kyne, on whose neck neuer came yocke. And tye the kyne in the carte, & brynge the calues whome from them. ⁸ Then take the arcke of the Lorde, & put it in the carte, & putte the Iuelles of Golde (whiche ye reward him with for a trespace offeryng) in a sorcer by the syde thereof, and sende it away & let it go. ⁹ And marke yf he go vp by the way that leadeth vnto his owne coaste, to Bethsames, then it is he that dyd vs thys great euyl. But & yf he do not, then it is not hys hande that smote vs, but it was a chaunce that hapened vs. ¹⁰ And the men dyd euen so: they toke two kyne that gaue milcke, & tyed them in the carte, and kepte the calues at home, ¹¹ & they layde the arcke of the Lord vpon the carte, & the sorcer with the myce of golde & the ymages of theyr arsses with Emerodes. ¹² And the kyne toke the strayght way to Bethsames, bothe one waye, and as they wente, lowed, turnyng nether to the ryght hand nor to the lefte. And the Lordes of the Philistines went after them vntyll they came to the borders of Bethsames. ¹³ And they of Bethsames were reping their whete heruest in the valeye. And they lyft vp theyr eyes and spyed the arcke. And reioysed when they sawe it. ¹⁴ And the carte came into the groue of one Iehosua a Bethsamite, and stode styll there. There was there also a greate stone. And they claue the wodde of the carte and offered the kyne a burnte offerynge vnto the Lorde. ¹⁵ And the Leuites toke doune the arcke of the Lorde, & the forcer that was therebye, wherein the Iuelles of golde were, & put them on the great stone. And the men of Bethsames sacryfyced burnte sacrifyce, & offered offerynges that same daye vnto the Lorde. ¹⁶ And when the fyue Lordes of the Philistines had sene it. they returned to Akaron the same daye. ¹⁷ These are the golden arsses with Emerodes whiche the Philistines gaue to amendes for a trespace offeryng, to the Lord: for Asdod one: for Gaza one: for Askalon one: for Geth one: & for Akaron one. ¹⁸ And the golden myce were according to the nombre of all the cytyes of the Philistines thorowe the fyue lordeshyppes: both of walled tounes & of tounes vnwalled, euen vnto the great stone, whereon they set doune the arcke of the Lorde: whiche stone remayneth vnto thys daye in the felde of Iehosua the Bethsamite. ¹⁹ And he plaged the men of Bethsames, because they had sene the arcke of the Lorde. And he slue of the people fyftyethousand and thre skore & ten persones. And the people lamented, because the Lorde had slayne so greate a slaughter of them. ²⁰ And the men of Bethsames sayde: who is able to stand before the Lord so holy a God, & to whom shall he go from vs. ²¹ And they sent messengers to the enhabiters of Kariath Iarim, sayinge: The Philistines haue brought home agayne the arcke of the Lorde: come doune and fet it vp to you.