2 Samuel 24:11-17

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet, David’s seer. The Lord said, ¹² “Go tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says. I am laying out three choices before you. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will carry it out against you.’”

¹³ So Gad went to David and told him about this. He said, “Shall seven^[a] years of famine in your land come upon you, or three months of fleeing with your enemies pursuing you, or three days of plague^[b] in your land? Now consider this and decide what answer I should return to the one who sent me.”

¹⁴ David said to Gad, “This puts me in a difficult position. Please! Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great. But do not let me fall into the hands of man.”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a plague against Israel from the next morning until the appointed time. Seventy thousand people from Dan to Beersheba died. ¹⁶ The angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord relented and did not bring the disaster. He said to the angel who was carrying out the destruction among the people, “Enough. Now hold back your hand.”

The angel of the Lord was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ David said to the Lord, as he was watching the angel striking the people, “Look! I am the one who sinned. I am guilty. But these sheep—what have they done? Please! Let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.”