³⁵ And the Lord sent a plague upon the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.

Complaining in the Desert

11 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes; and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.

³³ While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.

⁴⁰ And they rose early in the morning, and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “See, we are here, we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised; for we have sinned.” ⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, for that will not succeed? ⁴² Do not go up lest you be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. ⁴³ For there the Amal′ekites and the Canaanites are before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” ⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord, nor Moses, departed out of the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amal′ekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down, and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.

⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

⁹ Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

David’s Census of Israel and Judah

24 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”^[a]

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time; and there died of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.