1 The people of Philistia kept God’s sacred chest in their area for seven months. 2 Then they summoned their priests and their ◄diviners/men who practice rituals to find out what would happen in the future►. They asked them, "What should we do with the sacred chest of Yahweh? Tell us how we should send it back to its own land."

3 Those men replied, "Send with it an offering to show Yahweh that you know that you are guilty for having captured the chest, in order that the plague will stop. If you do that, and then if you are healed, you will know that Yahweh is the one who caused you to experience the plague."