1 Chronicles 21:15-21

New King James Version

¹⁵ And God sent ^[a]an ^(A)angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As ^[b]he was destroying, the Lord looked and ^(B)relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain ^[c]your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the ^(C)threshing floor of ^[d]Ornan the Jebusite.

¹⁶ Then David lifted his eyes and ^(D)saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. ¹⁷ And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these ^(E)sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

¹⁸ Therefore, the ^(F)angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. ²⁰ Now Ornan turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan continued threshing wheat. ²¹ So David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor, and bowed before David with his face to the ground.