David Counts His Army^(A)

24 The ·Lord was angry with [^Langer of the Lord burned against; ^Ccompare 1 Chr. 21:1] Israel again, and he ·caused [incited] David to turn against the Israelites. He said, “Go, ·count [number; take a census of] the people of Israel and Judah.”

² So King David said to Joab, the commander of the army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba [^Cthe far north and south of Israel], and ·count [take a census of; register; number] the people. Then I will know how many there are.”

³ But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God give you a hundred times more ·people [soldiers], and may my master the king live to see this happen. ·Why do you [^LBut why does my lord the king] want to do this?”

⁴ But the ·king commanded [^Lking’s word overruled/prevailed against] Joab and the commanders of the army, so they left the king to ·count [take a census of; register; number] the Israelites [^Ctaking the census indicates David’s ungodly dependence on the number of his troops].

⁵ After crossing the Jordan River, they camped near Aroer on the south side of the city in the ·ravine [valley]. They went through Gad and on to Jazer. ⁶ Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim Hodshi and to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon. ⁷ They went to the ·strong, walled city [fortress] of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went to ·southern [^Lthe Negev of] Judah, to Beersheba. ⁸ After nine months and twenty days, they had gone through all the land. Then they came back to Jerusalem.

⁹ Joab ·gave the list of the people [reported the number of soldiers] to the king. There were eight hundred thousand men in Israel who could ·use [draw; handle] the sword and five hundred thousand men in Judah.

¹⁰ ·David felt ashamed [^LDavid’s heart/conscience troubled him] after he had ·counted [taken a census of; registered; numbered] the people. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by what I have done. Lord, I beg you to ·forgive me, [^Ltake away the guilt/iniquity of] your servant, because I have been very foolish.”

¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the ·Lord spoke his word [^Lword of the Lord came] to Gad, who was a prophet and David’s seer. ¹² The Lord told Gad, “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I offer you three ·choices [options; things]. Choose one of them and I will ·do it to [inflict it on] you.’”

¹³ So Gad [1 Sam. 22:5] went to David and said to him, “Should ·three [^Cso 1 Chr. 21:12; the Hebrew text has “seven”] years of ·hunger [famine] come to you and your land? Or should ·your enemies chase you [^Lyou flee from your pursuing enemies] for three months? Or should there be three days of ·disease [epidemics; pestilence; plagues] in your land? Think about it. Then decide ·which of these things [what answer] I should ·tell [give] the Lord who sent me.”

¹⁴ David said to Gad, “I am in ·great [deep] ·trouble [distress]. Let ·the Lord punish us [^Lus fall into the hands of the Lord], because ·the Lord is very merciful [^Lhis mercy is great]. Don’t let ·my punishment come from human beings [^Lme fall into human hands]!”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a ·terrible disease [epidemic; pestilence; plague] on Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the ·chosen time to stop [appointed time]. From Dan to Beersheba [^Cfrom the far north and the far south of Israel] seventy thousand people died. ¹⁶ When the angel raised his ·arm [^Lhand] toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord ·felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened [relented about the calamity/disaster]. He said to the angel who was ·destroying [afflicting] the people, “That is enough! ·Put down [Stay; Withdraw] your ·arm [^Lhand]!” The angel of the Lord was ·then [at that moment] by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel that ·killed [^Lwas striking down/ravaging] the people, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who sinned and did wrong. ·These people only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong [^LWhat have these sheep done?]. Please ·punish me and my family [^Llet your hand fall on me and my father’s house].”

¹⁸ That day Gad came to David and said, “Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David did what Gad told him to do, just as the Lord commanded.

²⁰ Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming to him. So he went out and ·bowed facedown [prostrated himself] on the ground before the king. ²¹ He said, “Why has my ·master [lord] the king come to ·me [^Lhis servant]?”

David answered, “To buy the threshing floor from you so I can build an altar to the Lord. Then the ·terrible disease [epidemic; pestilence; plague] will ·stop [be averted/lifted/withheld from the people].”

²² Araunah said to David, “My ·master [lord] and king, you may take anything you want for a ·sacrifice [offering]. Here are some oxen for the whole burnt offering and the threshing ·boards [sledges] and the yokes for the wood. ²³ My king, I give ·everything [all this] to you.” Araunah also said to the king, “May the Lord your God ·be pleased with [respond favorably to; accept] you.”

²⁴ But the king answered Araunah, “No, I ·will pay you for [insist on buying] the land. I won’t ·offer [sacrifice] to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for ·one and one-fourth pounds [^Lfifty shekels] of silver. ²⁵ He built an altar to the Lord there and ·offered [sacrificed] whole burnt offerings and ·fellowship [or peace; well-being; Lev. 3:1] offerings [^Cthis site is the later location of the temple; 1 Chr. 22:1]. Then the Lord ·answered his [was moved by/felt pity from this] prayer for the country, and the ·disease [epidemic; pestilence; plague] in Israel ·stopped [was averted/lifted/withheld].