1 Chronicles 21:7-17
New American Standard Bible
7 Now [a]God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel. 8 David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, [b]by doing this thing. (A)But now, please overlook Your servant’s guilt, for I have behaved very foolishly.”
9 The Lord spoke to (B)Gad, David’s (C)seer, saying, 10 “Go and speak to David, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I extend to you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take for yourself 12 (D)three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord: a plague in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall bring back to Him who sent me.” 13 David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, (E)for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into human hands.”
14 (F)So the Lord [c]sent a plague on Israel; seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and (G)was sorry about the catastrophe, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of [d]Ornan the Jebusite. 16 Then David raised his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, (H)covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Is it not I who [e]commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly, (I)but these sheep, what have they done? Lord, my God, just let Your hand be against me and my father’s household, and not against Your people as a plague.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Chronicles 21:7 Lit it was evil in the sight of God
- 1 Chronicles 21:8 that I did
- 1 Chronicles 21:14 Lit gave
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 In 2 Sam 24:16, Araunah
- 1 Chronicles 21:17 Lit said
1 Chronicles 21:7-17
Christian Standard Bible
7 This command was also evil in God’s sight, so he afflicted Israel.
8 David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now, please take away your servant’s guilt, for I’ve been very foolish.”(A)
David’s Punishment
9 Then(B) the Lord instructed Gad,(C) David’s seer,(D) 10 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.’”
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,(E) but don’t let me fall into human hands.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand Israelite men died. 15 Then God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but when the angel was about to destroy the city,[a] the Lord looked, relented concerning the destruction,(F) and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Ornan[b] the Jebusite.
16 When David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, covered in sackcloth,(G) fell facedown. 17 David said to God, “Wasn’t I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Lord my God, please let your hand be against me and against my father’s family, but don’t let the plague be against your people.”
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