David’s Altar^(A)

¹⁸ The angel of the Lord told Gad to tell David that David was to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor that belonged to Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up, obeying Gad’s directive that he had spoken in the name of the Lord. ²⁰ Ornan turned around and saw the angel. While his four sons with him ran away to hide, Ornan continued to thresh wheat. ²¹ As David approached Ornan, Ornan looked around and observed David, left the threshing floor, and fell to the ground before David with his face on the ground.

²² David told Ornan, “Give me the threshing floor as a site to build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me at its full price, so the plague may be averted from the people.”

²³ But Ornan replied to David, “Take it! Let your majesty the king do whatever seems like a good idea to him. Look here! I’m giving the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing machinery for the wood, and the wheat for a grain offering. I’m giving all of it.”

²⁴ But King David told Ornan, “No. I will buy them for the full price^[a] because I will not offer to the Lord what is yours or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

²⁵ So David paid Ornan 600 shekels weight worth in gold for the site, ²⁶ built an altar to the Lord there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called out to the Lord, and he answered him from heaven with fire on the altar of burnt offerings. ²⁷ After this, the Lord spoke to the angel, who then sheathed his sword.