David’s Military Census

24 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel again, and he stirred up David against them to say, “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”^(A)

² So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the troops so I can know their number.”^(B)

³ Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times more than they are^(C)—while my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king want to do this?”

⁴ Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the king’s presence to register the troops of Israel.

⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer,^(D) south of the town in the middle of the valley, and then proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. ⁶ They went to Gilead and to the land of the Hittites^[a] and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. ⁷ They went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Afterward, they went to the Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba.

⁸ When they had gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were eight hundred thousand valiant armed men^[b] from Israel and five hundred thousand men from Judah.^(E)

¹⁰ David’s conscience troubled him^(F) 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,^(G) please take away your servant’s guilt.”

David’s Punishment

¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad,^(H) David’s seer:^{(I) 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^[c] 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, consider carefully^[d] 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,^(J) 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 seventy thousand men died. ¹⁶ Then the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,^(K) but the Lord relented concerning the destruction^(L) and said to the angel who was destroying^(M) the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah^[e] the Jebusite.^(N)

¹⁷ When David saw the angel striking the people, he said to the Lord, “Look, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one^[f] who has done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and my father’s family.”

David’s Altar

¹⁸ Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ David went up in obedience to Gad’s command, just as the Lord had commanded. ²⁰ Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, so he went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground.

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

David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord, so the plague on the people may be halted.”^(O)

²² Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever he wants^[g] and offer it. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.^{(P) 23} Your Majesty, Araunah gives everything here to the king.” Then he said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces^[h] of silver. ²⁵ He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord was receptive to prayer for the land,^(Q) and the plague on Israel ended.

David’s Military Census

21 Satan^[a](A) rose up against Israel and incited David^(B) to count the people of Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number.”^(C)

³ Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply the number of his people a hundred times over!^(D) My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

⁴ Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel and then returned to Jerusalem. ⁵ Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand armed men^[b] and in Judah itself four hundred seventy thousand armed men. ⁶ But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king’s command was detestable to him. ⁷ This command was also evil in God’s sight, so he afflicted Israel.

⁸ David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now, please take away your servant’s guilt, for I’ve been very foolish.”^(E)

David’s Punishment

⁹ Then^(F) the Lord instructed Gad,^(G) David’s seer,^{(H) 10} “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.’”

¹¹ So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice: ¹² three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes with the sword of your enemy overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord—a plague on the land, the angel of the Lord bringing destruction to the whole territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.”

¹³ David answered Gad, “I’m in anguish. Please, let me fall into the Lord’s hands because his mercies are very great,^(I) but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand Israelite men died. ¹⁵ Then God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but when the angel was about to destroy the city,^[c] the Lord looked, relented concerning the destruction,^(J) and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Ornan^[d] the Jebusite.

¹⁶ When David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, covered in sackcloth,^(K) fell facedown. ¹⁷ David said to God, “Wasn’t I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Lord my God, please let your hand be against me and against my father’s family, but don’t let the plague be against your people.”

David’s Altar

¹⁸ So the angel of the Lord ordered Gad^(L) to tell David to go and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.^{(M) 19} David went up at Gad’s command spoken in the name of the Lord.

²⁰ Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel. His four sons, who were with him, hid. ²¹ David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.

²² Then David said to Ornan, “Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped.”

²³ Ornan said to David, “Take it! My lord the king may do whatever he wants.^[e] See, I give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I give it all.”

²⁴ King David answered Ornan, “No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the Lord what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

²⁵ So David gave Ornan fifteen pounds of gold^[f] for the plot. ²⁶ He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and he answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.^(N)

²⁷ Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. ²⁸ At that time, David offered sacrifices there when he saw that the Lord answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ²⁹ The tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at the high place in Gibeon,^{(O) 30} but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified of the sword of the Lord’s angel.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather^(A) according to the flesh, has found?^{[a] 2} If Abraham was justified^[b] by works,^(B) he has something to boast about—but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.^{[c](C) 4} Now to the one who works,^(D) pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly,^(E) his faith is credited for righteousness.

David Celebrating the Same Truth

⁶ Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

Abraham Justified before Circumcision

⁹ Is this blessing only for the circumcised,^(G) then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.^{[e](H) 10} In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. ¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision^(I) as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith^[f](J) while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father^(K) of all who believe^(L) but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. ¹² And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

The Promise Granted through Faith

¹³ For the promise to Abraham^(M) or to his descendants that he would inherit the world^(N) was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ If those who are of the law are heirs,^(O) faith is made empty and the promise nullified, ¹⁵ because the law produces wrath.^(P) And where there is no law,^(Q) there is no transgression.

¹⁶ This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace,^(R) to guarantee it to all the descendants^(S)—not only to the one who is of the law^[g] but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations^[h](T)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed,the one who gives life to the dead^(U) and calls^(V) things into existence that do not exist.^{(W) 18} He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations^[i](X) according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be.^{[j](Y) 19} He did not weaken in faith when he considered^[k] his own body to be already dead^(Z) (since he was about a hundred years old)^(AA) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb.^{(AB) 20} He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,^{(AC) 21} because he was fully convinced^(AD) that what God had promised, he was also able to do.^{(AE) 22} Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.^{[l](AF) 23} Now it was credited to him^[m] was not written for Abraham alone,^{(AG) 24} but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him^(AH) who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.^{(AI) 25} He was delivered up for^[n] our trespasses^(AJ) and raised for our justification.^(AK)