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18 So the angel of the Lord told Gad to instruct David to go up and build[a] an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up as Gad instructed him to do in the name of the Lord.[b] 20 While Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the messenger, and he and his four sons hid themselves. 21 When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face[c] to the ground. 22 David said to Ornan, “Sell me the threshing floor[d] so I can build[e] on it an altar for the Lord—I’ll pay top price[f]—so that the plague may be removed[g] from the people.” 23 Ornan told David, “You can have it![h] My master, the king, may do what he wants.[i] Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you.” 24 King David replied to Ornan, “No, I insist on buying it for top price.[j] I will not offer to the Lord what belongs to you or offer a burnt sacrifice[k] that cost me nothing.[l] 25 So David bought the place from Ornan for 600 pieces of gold.[m] 26 David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings.[n] He called out to the Lord, and the Lord[o] responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar. 27 The Lord ordered the messenger[p] to put his sword back into its sheath.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 21:18 tn Heb “that he should go up to raise up.”
  2. 1 Chronicles 21:19 tn Heb “and David went up by the word of Gad which he spoke in the name of the Lord.”
  3. 1 Chronicles 21:21 tn Heb “nostrils.”
  4. 1 Chronicles 21:22 tn Heb “the place of the threshing floor.”
  5. 1 Chronicles 21:22 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive here indicates the immediate purpose: “so I can build.”
  6. 1 Chronicles 21:22 tn Heb “For full silver sell to me.”
  7. 1 Chronicles 21:22 tn Following the imperative and first person prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive, this third person prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive introduces the ultimate purpose: “so the plague may be removed.”
  8. 1 Chronicles 21:23 tn Heb “take for yourself.”
  9. 1 Chronicles 21:23 tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”
  10. 1 Chronicles 21:24 tn Heb “No, for buying I will buy for full silver.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
  11. 1 Chronicles 21:24 tc The parallel text in 2 Sam 24:24 has the plural “burnt sacrifices.”
  12. 1 Chronicles 21:24 tn Or “without [paying] compensation.”
  13. 1 Chronicles 21:25 tc The parallel text of 2 Sam 24:24 says David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for “fifty pieces of silver.” This would have been about 20 ounces (568 grams) of silver by weight.tn Heb “six hundred shekels of gold.” This would have been about 15 lbs. (6.8 kg) of gold by weight.
  14. 1 Chronicles 21:26 tn Or “tokens of peace.”
  15. 1 Chronicles 21:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. 1 Chronicles 21:27 tn Heb “spoke to the messenger.”

18 Then Yahweh’s angel commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and raise an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in Yahweh’s name.

20 Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. 21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

22 Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to Yahweh on it. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”

23 Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Behold, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all.”

24 King David said to Ornan, “No; but I will most certainly buy it for the full price. For I will not take that which is yours for Yahweh, nor offer a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

25 So David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels[a] of gold by weight for the place. 26 David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.

27 Then Yahweh commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

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Footnotes

  1. 21:25 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 600 shekels was about 6 kilograms or about 192 Troy ounces.