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1 Crónicas 21
Nueva Versión Internacional
1 Crónicas 21
Nueva Versión Internacional
David hace un censo militar(A)
21 Satanás conspiró contra Israel e indujo a David a hacer un censo del pueblo. 2 Entonces David dijo a Joab y a los comandantes del ejército:
—Vayan y hagan un censo militar que abarque desde Berseba hasta Dan, luego tráiganme el informe para que yo sepa cuántos pueden servir en el ejército.
3 Joab respondió:
—¡Que el Señor multiplique cien veces las tropas! Pero ¿acaso no son todos ellos servidores suyos? ¿Para qué quiere hacer esto mi señor el rey? ¿Por qué ha de hacer algo que traiga un castigo sobre Israel?
4 Sin embargo, la orden del rey prevaleció sobre la opinión de Joab, de modo que este salió a recorrer todo el territorio de Israel. Después regresó a Jerusalén 5 y entregó a David los resultados del censo militar: En todo Israel había un millón cien mil que podían servir en el ejército, y en Judá, cuatrocientos setenta mil.
6 Pero Joab no contó a los de las tribus de Leví ni de Benjamín, porque para él era detestable la orden del rey. 7 Dios también la consideró como algo malo, por lo cual castigó a Israel.
8 Entonces David dijo a Dios: «He cometido un pecado muy grande al hacer este censo. He actuado como un necio. Yo te ruego que perdones la maldad de tu siervo».
9 El Señor dijo a Gad, el vidente de David: 10 «Ve y dile a David que así dice el Señor: “Te doy a escoger entre estos tres castigos: dime cuál de ellos quieres que te imponga”».
11 Entonces Gad fue a ver a David y le dijo:
—Así dice el Señor: “Elige una de estas tres cosas: 12 tres años de hambre o tres meses de persecución y derrota por la espada de tus enemigos o tres días en los cuales el Señor castigará con plaga el país, y su ángel traerá destrucción en todos los rincones de Israel”. Piénsalo bien y dime qué debo responderle al que me ha enviado.
13 —¡Estoy entre la espada y la pared! —respondió David—. Pero es mejor que yo caiga en las manos del Señor, porque su compasión es muy grande, y no que caiga en las manos de los hombres.
14 Por lo tanto, el Señor mandó contra Israel una plaga y murieron setenta mil israelitas. 15 Entonces Dios envió un ángel a Jerusalén para destruirla. Y al ver el Señor que el ángel la destruía, se lamentó y dijo al ángel destructor: «¡Basta! ¡Detén tu mano!». En ese momento, el ángel del Señor se hallaba en el lugar donde Arauna[a] el jebuseo limpiaba el trigo.
16 David alzó la vista y vio que el ángel del Señor estaba entre la tierra y el cielo, con una espada desenvainada en la mano que apuntaba hacia Jerusalén. Entonces David y los jefes, vestidos de luto, se postraron sobre su rostro.
17 Y David dijo a Dios: «Señor y Dios mío, ¿acaso no fui yo el que dio la orden de censar al pueblo? ¿Qué culpa tienen estas ovejas? ¡Soy yo el que ha pecado! ¡He actuado muy mal! ¡Descarga tu mano sobre mí y sobre mi familia, pero no sigas hiriendo a tu pueblo!».
David construye un altar(B)
18 Entonces el ángel del Señor dijo a Gad: «Dile a David que suba y construya un altar para el Señor en el lugar donde Arauna el jebuseo limpia el trigo». 19 David se puso en camino, conforme a la palabra que Gad le dio en nombre del Señor.
20 Arauna se encontraba trillando y, al mirar hacia atrás, vio al ángel. Los cuatro hijos que estaban con él se escondieron. 21 Al ver Arauna que David se acercaba al lugar donde limpiaba el trigo, salió a recibirlo y rostro en tierra se postró delante de él. 22 David le dijo:
—Véndeme una parte de este lugar para construirle un altar al Señor, a fin de que se detenga la plaga que está afligiendo al pueblo. Véndemela por su verdadero precio.
23 Arauna contestó a David:
—Mi señor y rey, yo se la regalo, para que haga usted en ella lo que mejor le parezca. Yo mismo le daré los bueyes para los holocaustos, los trillos para la leña y el trigo para la ofrenda de cereal. Todo se lo regalo.
24 Pero el rey David respondió a Arauna:
—Eso no puede ser. No tomaré lo que es tuyo para dárselo al Señor ni le ofreceré un holocausto que nada me cueste. Te lo compraré todo por su verdadero precio.
25 Fue así como David dio a Arauna seiscientos siclos[b] de oro por aquel lugar. 26 Allí construyó un altar al Señor y ofreció holocaustos y sacrificios de comunión. Luego oró al Señor y, en respuesta, Dios envió fuego del cielo sobre el altar del holocausto.
27 Entonces el Señor ordenó al ángel que envainara su espada. 28 Al ver David que el Señor había respondido, le ofreció sacrificios. 29 En aquel tiempo, tanto el santuario del Señor que Moisés hizo en el desierto como el altar del holocausto se encontraban en el santuario de Gabaón. 30 Pero David no fue allá a consultar a Dios ante su presencia, porque estaba aterrorizado por la espada del ángel del Señor.
1 Chronicles 21
New Catholic Bible
1 Chronicles 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21
The Census and Plague. 1 Now Satan took his stand[a] against Israel, and he tempted David to take a census of Israel.
2 David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go take a census of Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan. Bring the number to me so that I might know it.”
3 Joab answered, “May the Lord multiply his people a hundred times over, but, my lord, the king, are these not my lord’s servants? Why would my lord order this? Why would he bring this guilt upon Israel?”
4 Nevertheless, the king was resolute with Joab. Joab departed and traveled all throughout Israel, and he then returned to Jerusalem. 5 Joab gave the total number of the people to David. In all of Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could draw the sword. In Judah there were four hundred and seventy thousand men who could draw the sword. 6 He did not count Levi or Benjamin, however, for Joab found the king’s command to be detestable.
7 God was greatly displeased at this, and he struck down Israel.
8 David said to God, “I have sinned grievously in doing this. I beg you now, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9 [b]The Lord then spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and speak to David saying: Thus says the Lord: ‘I will offer you three options. Choose one of them so that I might do it to you.’ ”
11 Gad came to David and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Choose for yourself 12 three years of famine, or three months of being defeated by your enemies, with the swords of your foes striking you down, or else three days of the sword of the Lord. Plague will be in the land, and the angel of the Lord will cause destruction all throughout the territory of Israel.’ Think about the answer I should take back to him who sent me.”
13 David said to Gad, “I am greatly distressed. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are truly great. Let me not fall into human hands.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand people fell because of it. 15 God also sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying it, the Lord regretted the disaster, and he said to the destroying angel, “Enough! Hold back your hand!”
Ornan’s Threshing Floor. So the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite.
16 David looked up, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and the heavens, holding a drawn sword in his hands that was stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the elders fell down upon their faces, clothed in sackcloth.[c]
17 David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the census of the people? I am the one who sinned, for I have truly done what was wrong. As for these sheep, what have they done? O Lord, my God, let your hand be against me and my father’s household, but let your people not suffer from the plague.”
18 The angel of the Lord then commanded Gad to tell David that David should go and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite. 19 So David went up as Gad, who spoke in the name of the Lord, had said.
20 Ornan turned around, and he saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him went and hid themselves while Ornan remained on the threshing floor.
21 David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked out and saw David. He went out from the threshing floor and bowed down with his face to the ground before David. 22 David said to Ornan, “Give me this place, the threshing floor, so that I can build an altar to the Lord on it. Sell it to me at full price so that the plague can be withdrawn from the people.”
23 Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself. Let my lord, the king, do what he sees fit. Behold, I will also give you the oxen for burnt offering and the instruments used for threshing for wood and wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.”
24 But King David said to Ornan, “No, I will surely pay you the full price. I will not take anything from you for the Lord, nor will I offer any burnt offering that did not cost me anything.”
25 David gave Ornan the weight of six hundred shekels of gold for the site. 26 David then built an altar to the Lord there, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the Lord, and he answered him from heaven by sending fire upon the altar of the burnt offerings.
27 The Lord gave the command to the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath. 28 David then realized that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, and he performed a sacrifice there.
29 At that time, the tabernacle of the Lord that Moses had made and the altar of burnt offerings were at the high place in Gibeon. 30 But David could not go in to make inquiry of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan took his stand: again the Chronicler colors David’s behavior in a favorable light. Satan’s presence takes the full responsibility for the decision to order a census off of David. It remains his choice, however, just as any temptation that we give in to. The census was sinful because it showed a lack of respect for God’s power.
- 1 Chronicles 21:9 David is not the one who will build the temple. But the Chronicler wants to attribute to him at least the initiative in this undertaking. Thus the king makes careful preparations for the building, and Solomon simply executes his plans. David’s liturgical work will mark the completion of the unity he is seeking, by bringing the entire people together in the one temple.
- 1 Chronicles 21:16 This verse, which is peculiar to the Chronicler, presupposes a new way of imagining the angels (see Dan 9:21; 2 Mac 10:29).
1 Chronicles 21
King James Version
1 Chronicles 21
King James Version
21 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
3 And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
9 And the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee
12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
14 So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
18 Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord.
20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
26 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
27 And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
28 At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
29 For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
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