The Daily Audio Bible

^24-39 Other members of “The Thirty” included:

There were thirty-seven famous soldiers in all.

David Takes a Census^(A)

24 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah.” ² So David gave orders to Joab, the commander of his army: “Go with your officers through all the tribes of Israel from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are.”

³ But Joab answered the king, “Your Majesty, may the Lord your God make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now, and may you live to see him do it. But why does Your Majesty want to do this?” ⁴ But the king made Joab and his officers obey his order; they left his presence and went out to count the people of Israel.

⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped south of Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, in the territory of Gad.^[a] From there they went north to Jazer, ⁶ and on to Gilead and to Kadesh, in Hittite territory.^[b] Then they went to Dan, and from Dan they went^[c] west to Sidon. ⁷ Then they went south to the fortified city of Tyre, on to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and finally to Beersheba, in the southern part of Judah. ⁸ So after nine months and twenty days they returned to Jerusalem, having traveled through the whole country. ⁹ They reported to the king the total number of men capable of military service: 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.

¹⁰ But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the Lord, “I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.”

^11-12 The Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, “Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses.” The next morning, after David had gotten up, ¹³ Gad went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, “Which is it to be? Three^[d] years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord.”

¹⁴ David answered, “I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful.” ¹⁵ So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that he had chosen. From one end of the country to the other seventy thousand Israelites died. ¹⁶ When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, “Stop! That's enough!” The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

¹⁷ David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, “I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family.”

¹⁸ That same day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar to the Lord.” ¹⁹ David obeyed the Lord's command and went as Gad had told him to. ²⁰ Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming up to him. He threw himself on the ground in front of David ²¹ and asked, “Your Majesty, why are you here?”

David answered, “To buy your threshing place and build an altar for the Lord, in order to stop the epidemic.”

²² “Take it, Your Majesty,” Araunah said, “and offer to the Lord whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar; here are their yokes and the threshing boards to use as fuel.” ²³ Araunah gave it all to the king^[e] and said to him, “May the Lord your God accept your offering.”

²⁴ But the king answered, “No, I will pay you for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing.” And he bought the threshing place and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver. ²⁵ Then he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Lord answered his prayer, and the epidemic in Israel was stopped.

A Lame Beggar Is Healed

3 One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o'clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer. ² There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple. ³ When he saw Peter and John going in, he begged them to give him something. ⁴ They looked straight at him, and Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So he looked at them, expecting to get something from them. ⁶ But Peter said to him, “I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk!” ⁷ Then he took him by his right hand and helped him up. At once the man's feet and ankles became strong; ⁸ he jumped up, stood on his feet, and started walking around. Then he went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. ⁹ The people there saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ and when they recognized him as the beggar who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, they were all surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.

Peter's Message in the Temple

¹¹ As the man held on to Peter and John in Solomon's Porch, as it was called, the people were amazed and ran to them. ¹² When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you surprised at this, and why do you stare at us? Do you think that it was by means of our own power or godliness that we made this man walk? ^13 (A)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has given divine glory to his Servant Jesus. But you handed him over to the authorities, and you rejected him in Pilate's presence, even after Pilate had decided to set him free. ^14 (B)He was holy and good, but you rejected him, and instead you asked Pilate to do you the favor of turning loose a murderer. ¹⁵ You killed the one who leads to life, but God raised him from death—and we are witnesses to this. ¹⁶ It was the power of his name that gave strength to this lame man. What you see and know was done by faith in his name; it was faith in Jesus that has made him well, as you can all see.

¹⁷ “And now, my friends, I know that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was due to your ignorance. ¹⁸ God announced long ago through all the prophets that his Messiah had to suffer; and he made it come true in this way. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins. If you do, ²⁰ times of spiritual strength will come from the Lord, and he will send Jesus, who is the Messiah he has already chosen for you. ²¹ He must remain in heaven until the time comes for all things to be made new, as God announced through his holy prophets of long ago. ^22 (C)For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me,^[a] and he will be one of your own people. You are to obey everything that he tells you to do. ^23 (D)Anyone who does not obey that prophet shall be separated from God's people and destroyed.’ ²⁴ And all the prophets who had a message, including Samuel and those who came after him, also announced what has been happening these days. ^25 (E)The promises of God through his prophets are for you, and you share in the covenant which God made with your ancestors. As he said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants I will bless all the people on earth.’ ²⁶ And so God chose his Servant and sent him to you first, to bless you by making every one of you turn away from your wicked ways.”

A Prayer for Mercy

²¹ A wise, mature person is known for his understanding. The more pleasant his words, the more persuasive he is.

²² Wisdom is a fountain of life to the wise, but trying to educate stupid people is a waste of time.

²³ Intelligent people think before they speak; what they say is then more persuasive.