Arca da aliança
A Arca da Aliança era o símbolo mais sagrado de Israel — representava a presença de Deus no meio do seu povo. Sobre ela brilhava a glória do Senhor entre os querubins.
And they have made an ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height; and you have overlaid it [with] pure gold, you overlay it inside and outside, and you have made a ring of gold on it all around. And you have cast four rings of gold for it, and have put [them] on its four feet, even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its second side; and you have made poles of shittim wood, and have overlaid them [with] gold, and have brought the poles into the rings on the sides of the Ark, to carry the Ark by them; the poles are in the rings of the Ark, they are not turned aside from it; and you have put the Testimony which I give to you into the Ark. And you have made a propitiatory covering of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth; and you have made two cherubim of gold; you make them beaten work at the two ends of the propitiatory covering; and make one cherub at the end on this [side] and one cherub at the end on that [side]; at the propitiatory covering you make the cherubim on its two ends. And the cherubim have been spreading out wings on high, covering over the propitiatory covering with their wings, and their faces [are] toward one another—the faces of the cherubim are toward the propitiatory covering. And you have put the propitiatory covering on the Ark above, and you put the Testimony which I give to you into the Ark;
and I have met with you there, and have spoken with you from off the propitiatory covering (from between the two cherubim, which [are] on the Ark of the Testimony) all that which I command you concerning the sons of Israel.
And Bezaleel makes the Ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height;
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying, "On the first day of the month, in the first month, you raise up the Dwelling Place of the Tent of Meeting, and have set the Ark of the Testimony [in] there, and have covered over the Ark with the veil,
And he takes and puts the Testimony into the Ark, and sets the poles on the Ark, and puts the propitiatory covering on the Ark above; and brings the Ark into the Dwelling Place, and places the veil of the covering, and covers over the Ark of the Testimony, as YHWH has commanded Moses.
And in the entering of Moses into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, indeed, he hears the voice speaking to him from off the propitiatory covering which [is] on the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; and He speaks to him.
And they journey from the mountain of YHWH a journey of three days; and the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH is journeying before them [for] the journey of three days, to spy out a resting place for them; and the cloud of YHWH [is] on them by day, in their journeying from the camp. And it comes to pass in the journeying of the Ark, that Moses says, "Rise, O YHWH, and Your enemies are scattered, and those hating You flee from Your presence." And in its resting he says, "Return, O YHWH, [to] the myriads, the thousands of Israel."
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and take a rod from each of them, for a father’s house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers—twelve rods; you write the name of each on his rod, and you write Aaron’s name on the tribe of Levi; for one rod [is] for the head of their fathers’ house. And you have placed them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. And it has come to pass, the man’s rod on whom I fix flourishes, and I have caused the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you, to cease from off Me." And Moses speaks to the sons of Israel, and all their princes give to him one rod for a prince, one rod for a prince, for their fathers’ house—twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [is] in the midst of their rods; and Moses places the rods before YHWH in the Tent of the Testimony. And it comes to pass, on the next day, that Moses goes into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron has flourished for the house of Levi, and brings out a bud, and blossoms [with] a blossom, and produces almonds; and Moses brings out all the rods from before YHWH to all the sons of Israel, and they look, and each takes his rod. And YHWH says to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the Testimony, for a charge, for a sign to the sons of rebellion, and you remove their murmurings from off Me, and they do not die"; and Moses does as YHWH has commanded him; so he has done.
And it comes to pass, in the journeying of the people from their tents to pass over the Jordan, and of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant before the people, and at those carrying the Ark coming to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the Ark have been dipped in the extremity of the waters (and the Jordan is full over all its banks all the days of harvest)— that the waters stand; those coming down from above have risen—one heap, very far above Adam, the city which [is] at the side of Zaretan; and those going down by the Sea of the Plain (the Salt Sea), have been completely cut off; and the people have passed through opposite Jericho; and the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH stand on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan—established, and all Israel are passing over on dry ground until all the nation has completed to pass over the Jordan.
And it comes to pass, in the coming up of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH out of the midst of the Jordan—the soles of the feet of the priests have been drawn up into the dry ground—and the waters of the Jordan return to their place, and go over all its banks as before.
And Jericho shuts itself up, and is shut up, because of the presence of the sons of Israel—none going out, and none coming in. And YHWH says to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho and its king into your hand—mighty men of valor, and you have surrounded the city—all the men of battle—going around the city once; thus you do [for] six days; and seven priests carry seven horns of the rams before the Ark, and on the seventh day you go around the city seven times, and the priests blow with the horns, and it has been, in the prolonging of the horn of the ram, in your hearing the voice of the horn, all the people shout [with] a great shout, and the wall of the city has fallen under it, and the people have gone up, each straight before him." And Joshua son of Nun calls to the priests and says to them, "Carry the Ark of the Covenant, and seven priests carry seven horns of the rams before the Ark of YHWH"; and He said to the people, "Pass over, and go around the city, and he who is armed passes over before the Ark of YHWH."
And the people shout, and blow with the horns, and it comes to pass, when the people hear the voice of the horn, that the people shout [with] a great shout, and the wall falls under it, and the people goes up into the city, each straight before him, and they capture the city;
and the Philistines set themselves in array to meet Israel, and the battle spreads itself, and Israel is struck before the Philistines, and they strike among the ranks in the field about four thousand men. And the people come into the camp, and [the] elderly of Israel say, "Why has YHWH struck us today before the Philistines? We take the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from Shiloh to ourselves, and it comes into our midst, and He saves us out of the hand of our enemies." And the people send to Shiloh, and they take from there the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubim, and there [are] two sons of Eli with the Ark of the Covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas. And it comes to pass, at the coming in of the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH to the camp, that all Israel shouts [with] a great shout, and the earth is moved. And the Philistines hear the noise of the shouting, and say, "What [is] the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?" And they perceive that the Ark of YHWH has come into the camp. And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp"; and they say, "Woe to us, for there has been nothing like this before. Woe to us, who delivers us out of the hand of these majestic gods? These [are] the gods who are striking the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness. Strengthen yourselves, and become men, O Philistines, lest you do service to Hebrews, as they have done to you—then you have become men, and have fought." And the Philistines fight, and Israel is struck, and they each flee to his tents, and the slaughter is very great, and thirty thousand footmen of Israel fall; and the Ark of God has been taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, have died.
And the hand of YHWH is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He makes them desolate, and strikes them with lumps, Ashdod and its borders. And the men of Ashdod see that [it is] so, and have said, "The Ark of the God of Israel does not abide with us, for His hand has been hard on us, and on our god Dagon." And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines to them, and say, "What do we do to the Ark of the God of Israel?" And they say, "Let the Ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath"; and they bring around the Ark of the God of Israel; and it comes to pass after they have brought it around, that the hand of YHWH is against the city—a very great destruction; and He strikes the men of the city, from small and to great; and lumps break forth on them. And they send the Ark of God to Ekron, and it comes to pass, at the coming in of the Ark of God to Ekron, that the Ekronites cry out, saying, "They have brought around the Ark of the God of Israel to us, to put us and our people to death." And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines, and say, "Send the Ark of the God of Israel away, and it turns back to its place, and it does not put us and our people to death"; for there has been a deadly destruction throughout all the city, the hand of God has been very heavy there,
And the Ark of YHWH is in the field of the Philistines [for] seven months, and the Philistines call for priests and for diviners, saying, "What do we do to the Ark of YHWH? Let us know with what we send it to its place." And they say, "If you are sending the Ark of the God of Israel away, you do not send it away empty; for you certainly send back a guilt-offering to Him; then you are healed, and it has been known to you why His hand does not turn aside from you."
And the men do so, and take two suckling cows, and bind them in the cart, and they shut up their young ones in the house; and they place the Ark of YHWH on the cart, and the coffer, and the golden muroids, and the images of their lumps. And the cows go straight in the way, on the way to Beth-Shemesh, they have gone in one highway, going and lowing, and have not turned aside right or left; and the princes of the Philistines are going after them to the border of Beth-Shemesh. And the Beth-Shemeshites are reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley, and they lift up their eyes, and see the Ark, and rejoice to see [it]. And the cart has come into the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite, and stands there, and there [is] a great stone, and they cleave the wood of the cart, and they have caused the cows to ascend [as] a burnt-offering to YHWH. And the Levites have taken down the Ark of YHWH, and the coffer which [is] with it, in which [are] the vessels of gold, and place [them] on the great stone; and the men of Beth-Shemesh have caused burnt-offerings to ascend and sacrifice sacrifices in that day to YHWH;
And the men of Kirjath-Jearim come and bring up the Ark of YHWH, and bring it into the house of Abinadab, in the height, and they have sanctified his son Eleazar to keep the Ark of YHWH. And it comes to pass, from the day of the dwelling of the Ark in Kirjath-Jearim, that the days are multiplied—indeed, they are twenty years—and all the house of Israel wails after YHWH.
And it is declared to King David, saying, "YHWH has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that he has, because of the Ark of God"; and David goes and brings up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with joy. And it comes to pass, when those carrying the Ark of YHWH have stepped six steps, that he sacrifices an ox and a fatling. And David is dancing with all [his] strength before YHWH, and David is girded with a linen ephod, and David and all the house of Israel are bringing up the Ark of YHWH with shouting, and with the voice of a horn,
Then Solomon assembles the elderly of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from the City of David—it [is] Zion; and all the men of Israel are assembled to King Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, in the festival (the seventh month). And all [the] elderly of Israel come in, and the priests lift up the Ark, and bring up the Ark of YHWH, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that [are] in the tent, indeed, the priests and the Levites bring them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who are assembled to him [are] with him before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests bring in the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH to its place, to the oracle of the house, to the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubim; for the cherubim are spreading forth two wings to the place of the Ark, and the cherubim cover over the Ark, and over its poles from above; and they lengthen the poles, and the heads of the poles are seen from the holy [place] on the front of the oracle, and are not seen outside, and they are there to this day. There is nothing in the Ark, only the two tablets of stone which Moses put there in Horeb when YHWH covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt. And it comes to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy [place], that the cloud has filled the house of YHWH, and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of YHWH has filled the house of YHWH.
"Return, O backsliding sons," || A declaration of YHWH. "For I have ruled over you, || And taken you—one from a city, and two from a family, || And have brought you to Zion, And I have given shepherds to you || According to My own heart, || And they have fed you with knowledge and understanding. And it has come to pass, when you are multiplied, || And have been fruitful in the land, || In those days," || A declaration of YHWH, || "They no longer say, The Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, || Nor does it go up on the heart, || Nor do they remember concerning it, || Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again.
It had, indeed, then (even the first dwelling place) ordinances of service, also a worldly sanctuary, for a dwelling place was prepared, the first, in which was both the lampstand, and the table, and the Bread of the Presentation—which is called "Holy"; and after the second veil a dwelling place that is called "Holy of Holies," having a golden censer, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid all over with gold, in which [is] the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, and over it cherubim of the glory, overshadowing the propitiatory covering, concerning which we are not to particularly speak now.
And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and the Ark of His Covenant was seen in His temple, and there came lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.