2 Samuel 24:10-15

Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹⁰ David’s conscience troubled him^(A) after he had taken a census of the troops. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, Lord, because I’ve been very foolish,^(B) please take away Your servant’s guilt.”

David’s Punishment

¹¹ When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the Lord had come to the prophet Gad,^(C) David’s seer:^{(D) 12} “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’”

¹³ So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three^[a] years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, think it over and decide what answer I should take back to the One who sent me.”

¹⁴ David answered Gad, “I have great anxiety. Please, let us fall into the Lord’s hands because His mercies are great,^(E) but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba 70,000 men died.