²² “When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt,^(A)

² “Speak to the Israelites, saying: When anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done and does any one of them:^(A)

¹³ “If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt,^(A)

Judgment on David’s Sin

¹⁰ But afterward, David was stricken to the heart because he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, I pray you, take away the guilt of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”^{(A) 11} When David rose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,^{(B) 12} “Go and say to David: Thus says the Lord: Three things I offer^[a] you; choose one of them, and I will do it to you.”^{(C) 13} So Gad came to David and told him; he asked him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you on 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 the one who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great, but let me not fall into human hands.”^(D)

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people died, from Dan to Beer-sheba.^{(E) 16} But when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented concerning the evil and said to the angel who was bringing destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” The angel of the Lord was standing^[b] by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.^{[c](F) 17} When David saw the angel who was destroying the people, he said to the Lord, “I alone have sinned, and I, the shepherd, have done evil,^[d] but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”^(G)

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year, and David inquired of the Lord. The Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house because he put the Gibeonites to death.” ² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites; although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)^{(A) 3} David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make expiation, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”^(B)

Return from the War

¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

² two hundred fifty Israelite men, leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men, and they confronted Moses.^(A)

²⁷ “If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt,^(A)

²¹ You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.^(A)