The Census Taken

24 ^(A)Now ^(B)again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, “^(C)Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² The king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and ^[a]register the people, that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “^(E)Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to ^[b]register the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped in ^(F)Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad and toward ^(G)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to ^[c]the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to ^(H)Sidon, ⁷ and came to the ^(I)fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(J)Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to ^(K)Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave ^(L)the number of the ^[d]registration of the people to the king; and there were in Israel ^(M)eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ Now ^(N)David’s heart ^[e]troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “^(O)I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please ^[f]take away the iniquity of Your servant, for ^(P)I have acted very foolishly.” ¹¹ When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(Q)the prophet Gad, David’s ^(R)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(S)seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord ^(T)for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Pestilence Sent

¹⁵ So ^(U)the Lord ^[g]sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people ^(V)from Dan to Beersheba died. ^16 (W)When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(X)the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, ^(Y)it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but ^(Z)these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “^(AA)Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ^[h]Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. ²⁰ Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. ²¹ Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, ^(AB)that the plague may be held back from the people.” ²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, ^(AC)the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God ^(AD)accept you.” ²⁴ However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for ^(AE)I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God ^[i]which cost me nothing.” So ^(AF)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ^(AG)Thus the Lord was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.

Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.

A Song of Ascents.

Christ Is Our Advocate

2 ^(A)My little children, I am ^(B)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(C)we have an ^[a](D)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is ^(E)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also ^(F)for those of the whole world.

^3 (G)By this we know that we have come to ^(H)know Him, if we ^(I)keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “^(J)I have come to ^(K)know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(L)liar, and ^(M)the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever ^(N)keeps His word, in him the ^(O)love of God has truly been perfected. ^(P)By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says he ^(Q)abides in Him ^(R)ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

^7 (S)Beloved, I am ^(T)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(U)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ^8 [c]On the other hand, I am writing ^(V)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^(W)the darkness is passing away and ^(X)the true Light is already shining. ⁹ The one who says he is in the Light and yet ^(Y)hates his ^(Z)brother is in the darkness until now. ^10 (AA)The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But the one who ^(AB)hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(AC)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ^(AD)blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, ^(AE)little children, because ^(AF)your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AG)who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^(AH)you have overcome ^(AI)the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ^(AJ)you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AK)who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^(AL)strong, and the ^(AM)word of God abides in you, and ^(AN)you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love ^(AO)the world nor the things in the world. ^(AP)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, ^(AQ)the lust of the flesh and ^(AR)the lust of the eyes and ^(AS)the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ^17 (AT)The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who ^(AU)does the will of God lives forever.

¹⁸ Children, ^(AV)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(AW)antichrist is coming, ^(AX)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (AY)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^(AZ)so that ^[d]it would be shown that they all are not of us. ^20 [e]But you have an ^(BA)anointing from ^(BB)the Holy One, and ^(BC)you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^(BD)because you do know it, and ^[f]because no lie is ^(BE)of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(BF)the one who denies that Jesus is the ^[g]Christ? This is ^(BG)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (BH)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard ^(BI)from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ^(BJ)will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

^25 (BK)This is the promise which He Himself ^[h]made to us: eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ^(BL)deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the ^(BM)anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ^(BN)teaches you about all things, and is ^(BO)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ^[i]you abide in Him.

²⁸ Now, ^(BP)little children, abide in Him, so that when He ^(BQ)appears, we may have ^(BR)confidence and ^(BS)not ^[j]shrink away from Him in shame ^[k]at His ^(BT)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(BU)He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness ^(BV)is ^[l]born of Him.