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.”