David's Census

24 ^(A)(B)Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ^(C)“Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,^[a] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, 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 still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.

The Lord's Judgment of David's Sin

¹⁰ But ^(A)David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ^(B)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done ^(C)very foolishly.”

¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(A)the prophet Gad, David's ^(B)seer, saying,

¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(A)three^[a] 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 decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”