David’s Census of Israel and Judah^(A)

24 Again ^(B)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, ^(C)“Go, ^[a]number Israel and Judah.”

² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that ^(E)I may know the number of the people.”

³ And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God ^(F)add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless the king’s word ^[b]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

⁵ And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in ^(G)Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward ^(H)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to ^(I)Dan Jaan and around to ^(J)Sidon; ⁷ and they came to the stronghold of ^(K)Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(L)Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. ^(M)And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

The Judgment on David’s Sin^(N)

¹⁰ And ^(O)David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So ^(P)David said to the Lord, ^(Q)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have ^(R)done very foolishly.”

¹¹ Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(S)Gad, David’s ^(T)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall ^(U)seven^[c] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(V)for His mercies are great; but ^(W)do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁵ So ^(X)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 (Y)And when the ^[d]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(Z)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 ^[e]Araunah the Jebusite.

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

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

^(AD)And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that ^(AE)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. ^(AF)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 ^(AG)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 ^(AH)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. ^(AI)So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and ^(AJ)the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Serving All Men

¹⁹ For though I am ^(A)free from all men, ^(B)I have made myself a servant to all, ^(C)that I might win the more; ²⁰ and ^(D)to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the ^[a]law, that I might win those who are under the law; ^21 (E)to ^(F)those who are without law, as without law ^(G)(not being without ^[b]law toward God, but under ^[c]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ^22 (H)to the weak I became ^[d]as weak, that I might win the weak. ^(I)I have become all things to all men, ^(J)that I might by all means save some. ²³ Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Striving for a Crown

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? ^(K)Run in such a way that you may ^[e]obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize ^[f]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for ^(L)an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: ^(M)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ^27 (N)But I discipline my body and ^(O)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become ^(P)disqualified.

Old Testament Examples

10 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under ^(A)the cloud, all passed through ^(B)the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same ^(C)spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same ^(D)spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies ^(E)were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as ^(F)they also lusted. ^7 (G)And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ^(H)“The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ^8 (I)Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as ^(J)some of them did, and ^(K)in one day twenty-three thousand fell; ⁹ nor let us ^[a]tempt Christ, as ^(L)some of them also tempted, and ^(M)were destroyed by serpents; ¹⁰ nor complain, as ^(N)some of them also complained, and ^(O)were destroyed by ^(P)the destroyer. ¹¹ Now ^[b]all these things happened to them as examples, and ^(Q)they were written for our ^[c]admonition, ^(R)upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

¹² Therefore ^(S)let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but ^(T)God is faithful, ^(U)who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to ^[d]bear it.