⁵ But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. ·Go [Return] to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the ·Lord spoke his word [^Lword of the Lord came] to Gad, who was a prophet and David’s seer. ¹² The Lord told Gad, “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I offer you three ·choices [options; things]. Choose one of them and I will ·do it to [inflict it on] you.’”

¹³ So Gad [1 Sam. 22:5] went to David and said to him, “Should ·three [^Cso 1 Chr. 21:12; the Hebrew text has “seven”] years of ·hunger [famine] come to you and your land? Or should ·your enemies chase you [^Lyou flee from your pursuing enemies] for three months? Or should there be three days of ·disease [epidemics; pestilence; plagues] in your land? Think about it. Then decide ·which of these things [what answer] I should ·tell [give] the Lord who sent me.”

¹⁴ David said to Gad, “I am in ·great [deep] ·trouble [distress]. Let ·the Lord punish us [^Lus fall into the hands of the Lord], because ·the Lord is very merciful [^Lhis mercy is great]. Don’t let ·my punishment come from human beings [^Lme fall into human hands]!”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a ·terrible disease [epidemic; pestilence; plague] on Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the ·chosen time to stop [appointed time]. From Dan to Beersheba [^Cfrom the far north and the far south of Israel] seventy thousand people died. ¹⁶ When the angel raised his ·arm [^Lhand] toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord ·felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened [relented about the calamity/disaster]. He said to the angel who was ·destroying [afflicting] the people, “That is enough! ·Put down [Stay; Withdraw] your ·arm [^Lhand]!” The angel of the Lord was ·then [at that moment] by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel that ·killed [^Lwas striking down/ravaging] the people, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who sinned and did wrong. ·These people only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong [^LWhat have these sheep done?]. Please ·punish me and my family [^Llet your hand fall on me and my father’s house].”

¹⁸ That day Gad came to David and said, “Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David did what Gad told him to do, just as the Lord commanded.

⁹ The Lord said to Gad, who was David’s ·seer [prophet], ¹⁰ “Go and tell David, ‘·This is what the Lord says [^TThus says the Lord]: I offer you three ·choices [^Lthings]. Choose one of them and I will ·do it [inflict it on you].’”

¹¹ So Gad went to David and said to him, “·This is what the Lord says [^TThus says the Lord]: ‘·Choose for yourself [Take your choice:] ¹² three years of ·hunger [famine]. Or choose three months of ·running from [being swept away by] your enemies as they ·chase [overtake] you with their swords. Or choose three days of ·punishment from [^Lthe sword of] the Lord, in which a ·terrible disease [plague; pestilence] will spread through the ·country [land]. The angel of the Lord will go through Israel ·destroying [ravaging] the people.’ Now, David, decide ·which of these things [what answer] I should ·tell [give] the Lord who sent me.”

¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in ·great trouble [deep distress; a desperate situation]. Let ·the Lord punish me [^Lme fall into the hand of the Lord], because the Lord is very merciful. Don’t let ·my punishment come from [^Lme fall into the hand of] human beings.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a ·terrible disease [plague; pestilence] on Israel, and seventy thousand people died. ¹⁵ God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but when the angel ·started [was about/preparing] to destroy it, the Lord saw it and ·felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened [^Lrelented regarding the disaster/calamity]. So he said to the angel who was destroying, “That is enough! ·Put down your arm [^LWithhold your hand]!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of ·Araunah [or Ornan; or Aravna; 2 Sam. 24:16] the Jebusite.

¹⁶ David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord ·in the sky [^Lstanding between earth and heaven], with his drawn sword in this hand ·pointing toward [extended over] Jerusalem. Then David and the ·elders [leaders] bowed facedown on the ground. They were wearing ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; ^Ca sign of grief or repentance]. ¹⁷ David said to God, “·I am [^LAm not I…?] the one who sinned and did wrong. I gave the order for the ·people to be counted [census]. ·These people only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong. [^LThese sheep—what have they done?] Lord my God, please ·punish [^Llet your hand fall on] me and my ·family [^Lfather’s house], but ·stop the terrible disease that is killing [lift the plague from] your people.”

¹⁸ Then the angel of the Lord ·told [ordered; commanded] Gad to tell David that he should build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ·Araunah [or Ornan; or Aravna; 2 Sam. 24:16] the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David ·did what Gad told him to do, [went up as Gad had spoken/instructed/commanded] in the name of the Lord.

²⁵ King Hezekiah ·put [stationed; positioned] the Levites in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, as David, Gad, and Nathan had commanded. (Gad was the king’s ·seer [prophet], and Nathan was a prophet.) This command came from the Lord through his prophets.