1 Samuel 6:1-9

1Now the ark of the Lord had been in the 1country of the Philistines seven months. 2And 2the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us 3how we shall send it to its place.” 3They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, 4do not send it empty; but you shall surely 5return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.” 4Then they said, “What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five golden 6tumors and five golden mice 7according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of 8you and on your lords. 5So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and 9you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps 10He will ease His hand from you, 11your gods, and your land. 6Why then do you harden your hearts 12as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, 13did they not allow 14the people to go, and they departed? 7Now therefore, take and 15prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there 16has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. 8Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put 17the articles of gold which you return to Him as 18a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. 9Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to 19Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then 20we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”