¹¹ So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice: ¹² three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes with the sword of your enemy overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord—a plague on the land, the angel of the Lord bringing destruction to the whole territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I should take back to the One who sent me.”

¹³ David answered Gad, “I’m in anguish. Please, let me fall into the Lord’s hands because His mercies are very great,^(A) but don’t let me fall into human hands.”