The most sacred Bible, whiche is the Holy Scripture conteyning the Old and New Testament / translated into English, and newly recognised with great diligence after most faythful exemplars, by Rychard Taverner.

¶ The heyfers brynge home the arcke with the re∣wardes. The Bethsamites were pluged after they had sene the arcke.

CAPI. VI.

ANd so when the arcke of the Lord had ben in the counterye of the Philistines [ A] seuen monethes / the Philistines called for the preestes and the sothe sayers, sayinge: what shall we do with the arcke of the Lord? tell vs wherwith we shall sende it home a∣gayne. They answered, yf you send the arcke of the God of Israel home agayne, sende it not emptye: But rewarde it with a trespace offerynge / and then ye shall be hole / and it shall be knowen to you why his hande depar∣teth not from you.

Then sayd they, what shall be the trespace offeryng, whiche we shall rewarde him with? And they answered: fyue golden arsses with Emerodes, and fyue golden myce, accordynge to the nombre of y^e Lordes of the Philistines. For it was one maner of plage y^t was on you all, and on your Lordes to. Wherfore ye shall make ymages lyke to youre arsses with Eme∣rodes, and ymages like to youre myce that de∣stroyed your lande, and shall gyue glorye vnto the God of Israel: that he may take his hand from you, and from youre goddes / and frome your lande. Wherfore sholde ye harden youre [ B] hertes,* 1.1 as the Egyptians and Pharao harde∣ned theyr hertes, whiche for all that (when he was well scourged) was fayne to let the peo∣ple goo and depart.

Now therfore make a newe carte and take two mylche kyne, on whose necke neuer came yoke. And tye the kyne in the carte / and kepe theyr calues at home frome them. Then take the arcke of the Lorde, and put it in the carte / and put the Iewels of golde (which ye reward him with, for a trespace offerynge) in a forcer by the syde therof, and sende it awaye and let it go. And marke, yf he goeth vp by the waye that leadeth vnto his own cost to Bethsames, then it is he that dyd vs this great euyll. But yf he do not, then it is not his hand that smote vs, but it was a chaūce that happened vs. And the men did euen so: they toke two kyne that gaue mylke and tied them in the carte, & kepte the calues at home, and they layde the arcke of the Lorde vpon the carte, and the forcer with [ C] the myce of golde, & the ymages of their arsses with Emerodes. And the kyne toke y^e streyght waye to Bethsames, bothe one waye / and as thee went, cryed / turnyng neyther to the right hande ne to the lefte. And the Lordes of the Philistines went after them, tyll they came to the borders of Bethsames.

And they of Bethsames were repynge their whete in the valey. So they lyft vp their eyes and espied the arcke, and reioysed when they saw it. And the cart came into the g••one of one Iosua a Bethsamite, and stode stil there. There was there also a greate stone. And they claue the wodde of the carte, and offered the kyne a burnt offerynge vnto the Lorde. And the Le∣uites toke downe the arcke of the Lorde, & the forcer that was therby, wherin the Iewels of golde were, and put them on the greate stone. And the men of Bethsames sacrificed burnt sa¦crifyce, and offered offerynges that same daye vnto the Lorde. And when the fyue Lordes of [ D]

the Philistines had sene it, they retourned to Akaron the same daye. These are the golden arsses with Emerodes, whiche the Philistines gaue to amendes for a trespace offerynge, to the Lorde / for Asdod one / for Gaza one / for Askalon one / for Geth one / and for Akaron one. And the golden myce were accordynge to the nombre of all the cityes of the Philistines thorowe the fyue lordshyppes / bothe of wal∣led townes, and of townes vnwalled, euen vnto the great stone wheron they sette downe the arcke of the Lorde: whiche remayneth vn¦to this daye in the felde of Iosua the Bethsa∣myte. And the Lorde plaged the men of Beth∣sames, bycause they hadde sene the iewels that were in the arcke of the Lorde. And he slewe of the people fiftye thousande, and thre score & ten persons. And the people lamēted bicause the Lord had made so great a slaughter of thē. And the men of Bethsames said, who is hable to stande before the Lorde so holy a God, and to whom shall he go from vs? And they sente messengers to the inhabitantes of Kariath Ia¦rim, sayinge: The Philistines haue broughte home agayne the arcke of the Lorde: come downe and fet it vp to you.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Exod .xii. d