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David Builds an Altar

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

19 So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked.

David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver[a] for the threshing floor and the oxen.

25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

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Footnotes

  1. 24:24 Hebrew 50 shekels of silver, about 20 ounces or 570 grams in weight.

David Buys Araunah’s Threshing Floor(A)

18 That very day, Gad approached David and told him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor that belongs to Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up, just as Gad had ordered, consistent with the Lord’s command.

20 When Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his staff approaching him. Araunah went out, bowed down before the king with his face on the ground, 21 and asked[a] him, “Why has your majesty the king come to his servant?”

David replied, “To purchase your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord, so the pestilence can be averted from the people.”

22 Araunah responded to David, “May your majesty the king take it and offer whatever pleases him. Here are oxen for a burnt offering, along with the threshing sledges and yokes from the oxen for wood! 23 Your majesty, Araunah gives all of this[b] to the king.” Araunah also told the king, “May the Lord your God be pleased with you!”

24 “No!” the king replied to Araunah. “I will buy them from you at full[c] price. I won’t offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 silver shekels,[d] 25 built[e] an altar to the Lord there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord answered David’s prayers for the land[f] and the pestilence on Israel was averted.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 24:21 Lit. and Araunah said
  2. 2 Samuel 24:23 The Heb. lacks of this
  3. 2 Samuel 24:24 The Heb. lacks full
  4. 2 Samuel 24:24 I.e. about one and one quarter pounds at 0.4 shekels per ounce
  5. 2 Samuel 24:25 Lit. David built
  6. 2 Samuel 24:25 Cf. 2Sam 21:14