David’s Census of Israel and Judah^(A)

24 Again ^(B)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, ^(C)“Go, ^[a]number Israel and Judah.”

² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that ^(E)I may know the number of the people.”

³ And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God ^(F)add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless the king’s word ^[b]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

⁵ And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in ^(G)Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward ^(H)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to ^(I)Dan Jaan and around to ^(J)Sidon; ⁷ and they came to the stronghold of ^(K)Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(L)Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. ^(M)And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

The Judgment on David’s Sin^(N)

¹⁰ And ^(O)David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So ^(P)David said to the Lord, ^(Q)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have ^(R)done very foolishly.”

¹¹ Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(S)Gad, David’s ^(T)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall ^(U)seven^[c] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(V)for His mercies are great; but ^(W)do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁵ So ^(X)the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. ^16 (Y)And when the ^[d]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(Z)the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^[e]Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely ^(AA)I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

The Altar on the Threshing Floor^(AB)

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, ^(AC)“Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

^(AD)And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that ^(AE)the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”

²² Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. ^(AF)Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. ²³ All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.”

And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God ^(AG)accept you.”

²⁴ Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So ^(AH)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ^(AI)So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and ^(AJ)the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(A)

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, ^(B)“All of you will ^(C)be ^[a]made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

³² But after I have been raised, ^(E)I will go before you to Galilee.”

³³ Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are ^[b]made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

³⁴ Jesus said to him, ^(F)“Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

³⁵ Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

And so said all the disciples.

The Prayer in the Garden^(G)

^36 (H)Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” ³⁷ And He took with Him Peter and ^(I)the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. ³⁸ Then He said to them, ^(J)“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

³⁹ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and ^(K)prayed, saying, ^(L)“O My Father, if it is possible, ^(M)let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, ^(N)not as I will, but as You will.”

⁴⁰ Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? ^41 (O)Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. ^(P)The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, ^[c]if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” ⁴³ And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴ So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵ Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour ^[d]is at hand, and the Son of Man is being ^(Q)betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane^(R)

⁴⁷ And ^(S)while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸ Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” ⁴⁹ Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” ^(T)and kissed Him.

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, ^(U)“Friend, why have you come?”

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. ⁵¹ And suddenly, ^(V)one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

⁵² But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, ^(W)for all who take the sword will ^[e]perish by the sword. ⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with ^(X)more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, ^(Y)that it must happen thus?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. ⁵⁶ But all this was done that the ^(Z)Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then ^(AA)all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin^(AB)

^57 (AC)And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. ⁵⁸ But ^(AD)Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests, ^[f]the elders, and all the council sought ^(AE)false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, ^60 [g]but found none. Even though ^(AF)many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last ^(AG)two ^[h]false witnesses came forward ⁶¹ and said, “This fellow said, ^(AH)‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”

^62 (AI)And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” ⁶³ But ^(AJ)Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, ^(AK)“I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, ^(AL)hereafter you will see the Son of Man ^(AM)sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

^65 (AN)Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His ^(AO)blasphemy! ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

They answered and said, ^(AP)“He is deserving of death.”

^67 (AQ)Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and ^(AR)others struck Him with ^[i]the palms of their hands, ⁶⁸ saying, ^(AS)“Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”

Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps Bitterly^(AT)

^69 (AU)Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”

⁷¹ And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”

⁷³ And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your ^(AV)speech betrays you.”

⁷⁴ Then ^(AW)he began to ^[j]curse and ^[k]swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ^(AX)“Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.