¹⁵ So ^(A)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 (B)And when the ^[a]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(C)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 ^[b]Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely ^(D)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^(E)

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, ^(F)“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?”

^(G)And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that ^(H)the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”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. ^(I)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 ^(J)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 ^(K)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. ^(L)So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and ^(M)the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Jesus Faces Pilate^(A)

15 Immediately, ^(B)in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and ^(C)delivered Him to Pilate. ^2 (D)Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”

³ And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He ^(E)answered nothing. ^4 (F)Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things ^[a]they testify against You!” ^5 (G)But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

Taking the Place of Barabbas^(H)

⁶ Now ^(I)at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. ⁷ And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. ⁸ Then the multitude, ^[b]crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. ⁹ But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

¹¹ But ^(J)the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. ¹² Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the ^(K)King of the Jews?”

¹³ So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

¹⁴ Then Pilate said to them, “Why, ^(L)what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

^15 (M)So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be ^(N)crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(O)

^16 (P)Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called ^[c]Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. ¹⁷ And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, ¹⁸ and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Then they ^(Q)struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. ²⁰ And when they had ^(R)mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

The Flight to Egypt Forbidden

42 Now all the captains of the forces, ^(A)Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near ² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ^(B)“Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and ^(C)pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but ^(D)a few of many, as you can see), ³ that the Lord your God may show us ^(E)the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that ^(F)whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will ^(G)keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ So they said to Jeremiah, ^(H)“Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. ⁶ Whether it is ^[a]pleasing or ^[b]displeasing, we will ^(I)obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, ^(J)that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will still remain in this land, then ^(K)I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I ^(L)relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ^(M)‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. ¹² And ^(N)I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’