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

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”^(A)

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth,^(A) because as nearest relative it is your right and duty^(B) to buy it.’

⁸ “Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field^(C) at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; ⁹ so I bought the field^(D) at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels^[a] of silver.^{(E) 10} I signed and sealed the deed,^(F) had it witnessed,^(G) and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— ¹² and I gave this deed to Baruch^(H) son of Neriah,^(I) the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³ “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed^(J) and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.

²² David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”

David Builds an Altar^(A)

¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah^(B) the Jebusite.”

³ But Joab^(A) replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over,^(B) and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

³ David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”^(A)

⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”^(B)

“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.

⁵ They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, ⁶ let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed^(C) before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen^(D) one.”

So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

⁷ The king spared Mephibosheth^(E) son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath^(F) before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. ⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah,^(G) whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,^[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.^{(H) 9} He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death^(I) during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.^(J)

¹⁰ Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night.^{(K) 11} When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, ¹² he went and took the bones of Saul^(L) and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead.^(M) (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan,^(N) where the Philistines had hung^(O) them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)^{(P) 13} David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela^(Q) in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that,^(R) God answered prayer^(S) in behalf of the land.^(T)

⁸ and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;^(A)

⁴⁴ and the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end^(A) to them at once.” And they fell facedown.

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer^(B) and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly^(C) to make atonement^(D) for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord;^(E) the plague^(F) has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people,^(G) but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.^{(H) 49} But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.^{(I) 50} Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.^[a]