David Enrolls the Fighting Men^(A)

24 Again^(B) the anger of the Lord burned against Israel,^(C) and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of^(D) Israel and Judah.”

² So the king said to Joab^(E) and the army commanders^[a] with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba^(F) and enroll^(G) the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

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

⁴ The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.

⁵ After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer,^(J) south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer.^{(K) 6} They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon.^{(L) 7} Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre^(M) and all the towns of the Hivites^(N) and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba^(O) in the Negev^(P) of Judah.

⁸ After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹ Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.^(Q)

¹⁰ David was conscience-stricken^(R) after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned^(S) greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.^(T)”

¹¹ Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad^(U) the prophet, David’s seer:^{(V) 12} “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’”

¹³ So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three^[b] years of famine^(W) in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague^(X) in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

¹⁴ David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy^(Y) is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.^{(Z) 16} When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented^(AA) concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord^(AB) was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,^[c] have done wrong. These are but sheep.^(AC) What have they done?^(AD) Let your hand fall on me and my family.”^(AE)

David Builds an Altar^(AF)

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^(AG) the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. ²⁰ When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

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.”^(AH)

²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen^(AI) for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. ²³ Your Majesty, Araunah^[d] gives^(AJ) all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”^(AK)

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels^[e](AL) of silver for them. ²⁵ David built an altar^(AM) to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer^(AN) in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

David Counts the Fighting Men^(A)

21 Satan^(B) rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census^(C) of Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count^(D) the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”

³ But Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over.^(E) My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

⁴ The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. ⁵ Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel^(F) there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.

⁶ But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him. ⁷ This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.

⁸ Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

⁹ The Lord said to Gad,^(G) David’s seer,^{(H) 10} “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against 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,^(I) three months of being swept away^[a] before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword^(J) of the Lord^(K)—days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy^(L) is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.^{(M) 15} And God sent an angel^(N) to destroy Jerusalem.^(O) But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented^(P) concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying^(Q) the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah^[b] the Jebusite.

¹⁶ David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.^(R)

¹⁷ David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd,^[c] have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep.^(S) What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family,^(T) but do not let this plague remain on your people.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor^(U) of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord.

²⁰ While Araunah was threshing wheat,^(V) he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. ²¹ Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.

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.”

²³ Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.”

²⁴ But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

²⁵ So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels^[d] of gold for the site. ²⁶ David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire^(W) from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

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

Psalm 6^[a]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.^[b] A psalm of David.

Psalm 38^[a]

A psalm of David. A petition.

Psalm 41^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

⁷ At the end of four^[a] years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. ⁸ While your servant was living at Geshur^(A) in Aram, I made this vow:^(B) ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.^[b]’”

⁹ The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron.

¹⁰ Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets,^(C) then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” ¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. ¹² While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel^(D) the Gilonite, David’s counselor,^(E) to come from Giloh,^(F) his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing.^(G)

David Flees

¹³ A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴ Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee,^(H) or none of us will escape from Absalom.^(I) We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.”

¹⁵ The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”

¹⁶ The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines^(J) to take care of the palace. ¹⁷ So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. ¹⁸ All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites^(K) and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.

¹⁹ The king said to Ittai^(L) the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner,^(M) an exile from your homeland. ²⁰ You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander^(N) about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your people with you. May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness.”^[c](O)

²¹ But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”^(P)

²² David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.

²³ The whole countryside wept aloud^(Q) as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley,^(R) and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.

²⁴ Zadok^(S) was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark^(T) of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar^(U) offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place^(V) again. ²⁶ But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.^(W)”

²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you understand?^(X) Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you, and also Abiathar’s son Jonathan.^(Y) You and Abiathar return with your two sons. ²⁸ I will wait at the fords^(Z) in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰ But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping^(AA) as he went; his head^(AB) was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. ³¹ Now David had been told, “Ahithophel^(AC) is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Lord, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

³² When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai^(AD) the Arkite^(AE) was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust^(AF) on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden^(AG) to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I will be your servant; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’^(AH) then you can help me by frustrating^(AI) Ahithophel’s advice. ³⁵ Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king’s palace.^{(AJ) 36} Their two sons, Ahimaaz^(AK) son of Zadok and Jonathan^(AL) son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear.”