The Census Taken

24 ^(A)Now ^(B)the anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and He incited David against them to say, “^(C)Go, count Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, “Roam about now through all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “^(E)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 can still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s order prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the presence of the king to conduct a census of 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 ^[a]the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to ^(H)Sidon, ⁷ then they 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 roamed 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 census of the people to the king: in Israel there were ^(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 ^[b]troubled him after he had counted the people. So David said to the Lord, “^(O)I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, Lord, please ^[c]overlook the guilt of Your servant, for ^(P)I have acted very foolishly.” ¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(Q)Gad the prophet, David’s ^(R)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and speak to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am imposing upon you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, and I will do it 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 for three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ of plague 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 human hands.”

Plague Sent

¹⁵ So ^(U)the Lord ^[d]sent a plague 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 extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(X)the Lord relented of the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now drop 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 ^[e]Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ Then David went up in accordance with the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. ²⁰ And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; so 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)so that the plague may be ^[f]withdrawn from the people.” ²² Araunah then said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, here are ^(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 be ^(AD)favorable to you.” ²⁴ However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; for ^(AE)I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God ^[g]that cost me nothing.” So ^(AF)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ Then David built there an altar to the Lord, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And ^(AG)the Lord responded to prayer for the land, and the plague was ^[h]withdrawn from Israel.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.

A Psalm of David.

³¹ Then Jesus *said to them, “You will all ^[a](A)fall away because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘^(B)I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be ^(C)scattered.’ ³² But after I have been raised, ^(D)I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ³³ But Peter replied to Him, “Even if they all ^[b]fall away because of You, I will never fall away!” ³⁴ Jesus said to him, “^(E)Truly I say to you that ^(F)this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” ³⁵ Peter *said to Him, “^(G)Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” All the disciples said the same thing as well.

The Garden of Gethsemane

^36 (H)Then Jesus *came with them to a place called ^[c](I)Gethsemane, and *told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ And He took ^(J)Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed. ³⁸ Then He *said to them, “^(K)My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and ^(L)keep watch with Me.”

³⁹ And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let ^(M)this cup pass from Me; ^(N)yet not as I will, but as You will.” ⁴⁰ And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter, “So, you men could not ^(O)keep watch with Me for one hour? ^41 (P)Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; ^(Q)the spirit is ^[d]willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup ^(R)cannot pass away unless I drink from it, ^(S)Your will be done.” ⁴³ Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. ⁴⁵ Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “^[e]Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, ^(T)the hour ^[f]is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

Jesus’ Betrayal and Arrest

^47 (U)And while He was still speaking, behold, ^(V)Judas, one of the twelve, came ^[g]accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign previously, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him.” ⁴⁹ And immediately Judas went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, ^(W)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “^(X)Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him.

⁵¹ And behold, ^(Y)one of those who were with Jesus ^[h]reached and drew his ^(Z)sword, and struck the ^(AA)slave of the high priest and ^[i]cut off his ear. ⁵² Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for ^(AB)all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve ^[j](AC)legions of ^(AD)angels? ⁵⁴ How then would ^(AE)the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

⁵⁵ At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a man inciting a revolt? ^(AF)Every day I used to sit within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me. ⁵⁶ But all this has taken place so that ^(AG)the Scriptures of the prophets will be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

Jesus before Caiaphas

^57 (AH)Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to ^(AI)Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. ⁵⁸ But ^(AJ)Peter was following Him at a distance, as far as the ^(AK)courtyard of the high priest, and he came inside and sat down with the ^[k](AL)officers to see the outcome.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the entire ^[l](AM)Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. ⁶⁰ They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on ^(AN)two came forward, ⁶¹ and said, “This man stated, ‘^(AO)I am able to destroy the ^[m]temple of God and to rebuild it ^[n]in three days.’” ⁶² The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You offer no answer for what these men are testifying against You?” ⁶³ But ^(AP)Jesus kept silent. ^(AQ)And the high priest said to Him, “I ^(AR)place You under oath by ^(AS)the living God, to tell us whether You are the ^[o]Christ, ^(AT)the Son of God.” ⁶⁴ Jesus *said to him, “^(AU)You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see ^(AV)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and ^(AW)coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵ Then the high priest ^(AX)tore his ^[p]robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? See, you have now heard the blasphemy; ⁶⁶ what do you think?” They answered, “^(AY)He deserves death!”

^67 (AZ)Then they ^(BA)spit in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others ^[q]slapped Him, ⁶⁸ and said, “^(BB)Prophesy to us, You ^[r]Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

Peter’s Denials

^69 (BC)Now Peter was sitting outside in the ^(BD)courtyard, and a slave woman came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” ⁷¹ When he had gone out to the gateway, another slave woman saw him and *said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷² And again he denied it, with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them as well, ^(BE)since even the way you talk ^[s]gives you away.” ⁷⁴ Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the statement that Jesus had ^[t]made: “^(BF)Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.