1 Chronicles 21
Modern English Version
The Census of Israel and Judah(A)
21 Now Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 Then David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go count Israel from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, that I may know their number.”
3 But Joab said, “May the Lord increase the number of His people one hundred times more. My lord the king, are not all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it bring guilt on Israel?”
4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab, so Joab departed and went throughout all Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 5 Joab gave the results of the census of the people to David: All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and in Judah four hundred and seventy thousand men drew the sword.
6 However, he did not include the Levites and Benjamin because the word of the king was abhorrent to Joab. 7 Now this thing was evil in the sight of God, and He struck Israel.
8 So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in doing this thing. Now, please, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Three things I offer you; choose one of these for yourself that I may do to you.’ ”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Select for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months of being swept away before your foes while the sword of your enemy overtakes you, or three days of the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now then consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”
13 David replied to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague throughout Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he prepared to destroy it, the Lord looked and relented from the calamity. And He said to the angel bringing the destruction, “It is enough. Remove your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven with his sword drawn in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, covered in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
17 David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the command to number the people? I am the one who has sinned and surely done evil. But these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, I pray, let Your hand be against me and my father’s house, but do not let Your people be plagued.”
David Builds an Altar
18 Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and raise 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 delivered in the name of the Lord.
20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel, but his four sons who were with him hid themselves as Ornan threshed the wheat. 21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.
22 Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor so that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. Sell it to me at full price so the plague on the people may be restrained.”
23 So Ornan replied to David, “Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do whatever seems good in his eyes. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing wagons for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all.”
24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, for I will surely acquire it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels[a] of gold by weight for the site, 26 and David built there an altar to the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him by fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27 So the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put away his sword in its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of burnt offering that Moses had made in the wilderness were in the high place in Gibeon at that time. 30 But David was unable to go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 21:25 About 15 pounds, or 6.9 kilograms.
1 Chronicles 21
New King James Version
The Census of Israel and Judah(A)
21 Now (B)Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to [a]number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, (C)and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”
3 And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?”
4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. 5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword. 6 (D)But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s [b]word was abominable to Joab.
7 And [c]God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. 8 So David said to God, (E)“I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; (F)but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s (G)seer, saying, 10 “Go and tell David, (H)saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 (I)either [d]three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord—the plague in the land, with the [e]angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His (J)mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
14 So the Lord sent a (K)plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent [f]an (L)angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As [g]he was destroying, the Lord looked and (M)relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain [h]your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the (N)threshing floor of [i]Ornan the Jebusite.
16 Then David lifted his eyes and (O)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 (P)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 (Q)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. 22 Then David said to Ornan, [j]“Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
23 But Ornan said to David, “Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.”
24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” 25 So (R)David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and (S)He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
27 So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 (T)For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of the burnt offering, which Moses had made in the wilderness, were at that time at the high place in (U)Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 21:1 take a census of
- 1 Chronicles 21:6 command
- 1 Chronicles 21:7 Lit. it was evil in the eyes of God
- 1 Chronicles 21:12 seven, 2 Sam. 24:13
- 1 Chronicles 21:12 Or Angel, and so throughout the chapter
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Or the Angel
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Or He
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Or Your
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16, 18–24
- 1 Chronicles 21:22 Lit. Give
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
