Chronological

24 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah.

² For the king said to Joab the captain of the host who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know their number.

³ And Joab said to the king, May the Lord your God add a hundred times as many people as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?

⁴ But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So they went from the king’s presence to number the Israelites.

⁵ They passed over the Jordan and encamped in Aroer, on the south side of the city lying in the midst of the ravine [of the Arnon] toward Gad, and on to Jazer.

⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan [Dan in the forest] and around to Sidon,

⁷ And came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the South (the Negeb) of Judah at Beersheba.

⁸ So when they had gone through all the land [taking the census], they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king. There were in Israel 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

¹⁰ But David’s heart smote him after he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done. I beseech You, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.

¹¹ When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

¹² Go and say to David, Thus says the Lord, I hold over you three choices; select one of them, so I may bring it upon you.

¹³ So Gad came to David and told him and said, Shall seven years of famine come to your land? Or will you flee three months before your pursuing enemies? Or do you prefer three days of pestilence in your land? Consider and see what answer I shall return to Him Who sent me.

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are many and great; but let me not fall into the hands of man.

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba 70,000 men.

¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented of the evil and reversed His judgment and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was smiting the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, Behold, I have sinned and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray You, be [only] against me and against my father’s house.

¹⁸ Then Gad came to David and said, Go up, rear an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁹ So David went up according to Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded.

²⁰ Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him; and [he] went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, to build there an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

²² And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for wood.

²³ All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king. And Araunah said to the king, The Lord your God accept you.

²⁴ But King David said to Araunah, No, but I will buy it of you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God of that which costs me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵ David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and Israel’s plague was stayed.

21 Satan [an adversary] stood up against Israel and stirred up David to number Israel.

² David said to Joab and the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me the total, that I may know it.

³ And Joab answered, May the Lord multiply His people a hundred times! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this? Why will he bring guilt upon Israel?

⁴ But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem.

⁵ Joab gave the total number of the people to David. And all of Israel were 1,100,000 who drew the sword, and of Judah 470,000 who drew the sword.

⁶ But Levi and Benjamin he did not include among them, for the king’s order was detestable to Joab.

⁷ And God was displeased with this [reliance on human resources], and He smote Israel.

⁸ And David said to God, I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. But now, I beseech You, take away the hateful wickedness of Your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

⁹ And the Lord said to Gad, David’s seer,

¹⁰ Go and tell David, Thus says the Lord: I offer you three things; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.

¹¹ So Gad came to David and said to him, Thus says the Lord: Take which one you will:

¹² Either three years of famine, or three months of devastation before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord and pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore, consider what answer I shall return to Him Who sent me.

¹³ And David said to Gad, I am in great and distressing perplexity; let me fall, I pray you, into the hands of the Lord, for very great and many are His mercies; but let me not fall into the hands of man.

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of Israel 70,000 men.

¹⁵ God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and He regretted and relented of the evil and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay your hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

¹⁶ David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and the heavens, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

¹⁷ And David said to God, Is it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is I who has sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray You, O Lord my God, be on me and on my father’s house, but not on Your people, that they should be plagued.

¹⁸ Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and set up an altar to the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

¹⁹ So David went up at Gad’s word, which he spoke in the name of the Lord.

²⁰ Now Ornan was threshing wheat, and he turned back and saw the angel; and his four sons hid themselves.

²¹ And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw him, and went out from the threshing floor and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

²² Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. You shall charge me the full price for it, that the plague may be averted from the people.

²³ Ornan said to David, Take it; and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. I give you the oxen also for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all.

²⁴ And King David said to Ornan, No, but I will pay the full price. I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings which cost me nothing.

²⁵ So David gave to Ornan for the site 600 shekels of gold by weight.

²⁶ And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and called upon the Lord; and He answered him by fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.

²⁷ Then the Lord commanded the [avenging] angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

²⁸ When David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

²⁹ For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

³⁰ But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

22 Then David said, Here shall be the house of the Lord God, and here the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

² David commanded to gather together the strangers who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.

³ David prepared iron in abundance for nails for the doors of the gates and for the couplings, and bronze in abundance without weighing,

⁴ Also cedar trees without number, for the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar timber to David.

⁵ David said, Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

⁶ Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷ David said to Solomon, My son, it was in my heart to build a house to the ^[a]Name and [for the symbol of] the Presence of the Lord my God.

⁸ But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.

⁹ Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon [peaceable], and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.^(A)

¹⁰ He shall build a house for My Name and [the symbol of My] Presence. He shall be My son, and I will be his father; and I will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.

¹¹ Now, my son, the Lord be with and prosper you in building the house of the Lord your God, as He has spoken concerning you.

¹² Only may the Lord give you wisdom and understanding as you are put in charge of Israel, that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

¹³ Then you will prosper if you are careful to keep and fulfill the statutes and ordinances with which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Dread not and fear not; be not dismayed.

¹⁴ In my affliction and trouble I have provided for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron without weighing. I have also provided timber and stone; you must add to them.

¹⁵ You have workmen in abundance: hewers, workers of stone and timber, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skillful in doing every kind of work

¹⁶ With gold, silver, bronze, and iron. So arise and be doing, and the Lord be with you!

¹⁷ David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

¹⁸ Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you peace on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and His people.

¹⁹ Now set your mind and heart to seek (inquire of and require as your vital necessity) the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into the house built to the Name and renown of the Lord.

Psalm 30

A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the Temple. [A Psalm] of David.

¹ I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

² O Lord my God, I cried to You and You have healed me.

³ O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the place of the dead); You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit (the grave).

⁴ Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

⁵ For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.^(A)

⁶ As for me, in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

⁷ By Your favor, O Lord, You have established me as a strong mountain; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

⁸ I cried to You, O Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication.

⁹ What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit (the grave)? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth and faithfulness to men?

¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

¹² To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.