The Daily Audio Bible

^24-39 Some of the Thirty Warriors were:

David Counts the People

(1 Chronicles 21.1-6)

24 The Lord was angry with Israel again, and he made David think it would be a good idea to count the people in Israel and Judah. ² So David told Joab and the army officers,^[e] “Go to every tribe in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north all the way south to Beersheba, and count everyone who can serve in the army. I want to know how many there are.”

³ Joab answered, “I hope the Lord your God will give you 100 times more soldiers than you already have. I hope you will live to see that day! But why do you want to do a thing like this?”

⁴ But when David refused to change his mind, Joab and the army officers went out and started counting the people. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan River and began with^[f] Aroer and the town in the middle of the river valley. From there they went toward Gad and on as far as Jazer. ⁶ They went to Gilead and to Kadesh in Syria.^[g] Then they went to Dan, Ijon,^[h] and on toward Sidon. ⁷ They came to the fortress of Tyre, then went through every town of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Finally, they went to Beersheba in the Southern Desert of Judah. ⁸ After they had gone through the whole land, they went back to Jerusalem. It had taken them 9 months and 20 days.

⁹ Joab came and told David, “In Israel there are 800,000 who can serve in the army, and in Judah there are 500,000.”

The Lord Punishes David

(1 Chronicles 21.7-17)

¹⁰ After everyone had been counted, David realized he had done wrong. He told the Lord, “What I did was stupid and terribly wrong. Lord, please forgive me.”

¹¹ Before David even got up the next morning, the Lord had told David's prophet Gad ^12-13 to take a message to David. Gad went to David and told him:

You must choose one of three ways for the Lord to punish you: Will there be seven^[i] years when the land won't grow enough food for your people? Or will your enemies chase you and make you run from them for three months? Or will there be three days of horrible disease in your land? Think about it and decide, because I have to give your answer to God, who sent me.

¹⁴ David was really frightened and said, “It's a terrible choice to make! But the Lord is kind, and I'd rather be punished by him than by anyone else.”

^15-16 So that morning, the Lord sent an angel to spread a horrible disease everywhere in Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. And before it was over, 70,000 people had died.

When the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord felt sorry for all the suffering he had caused and told the angel, “That's enough! Don't touch them.” This happened at the threshing place that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ David saw the angel killing everyone and told the Lord, “These people are like sheep with me as their shepherd.^[j] I have sinned terribly, but they have done nothing wrong. Please, punish me and my family instead of them!”

David Buys Araunah's Threshing Place

(1 Chronicles 21.18—22.1)

^18-19 That same day the prophet Gad came and told David, “Go to the threshing place that belongs to Araunah and build an altar there for the Lord.”

So David went.

²⁰ Araunah looked and saw David and his soldiers coming up toward him. He went over to David, bowed down low, ²¹ and said, “Your Majesty! Why have you come to see me?”

David answered, “I've come to buy your threshing place. I have to build the Lord an altar here, so this disease will stop killing the people.”

²² Araunah said, “Take whatever you want and offer your sacrifice. Here are some oxen for the sacrifice. You can use the threshing-boards^[k] and the wooden yokes for the fire. ²³ Take them—they're yours! I hope the Lord your God will be pleased with you.”

²⁴ But David answered, “No! I have to pay you what they're worth. I can't offer the Lord my God a sacrifice that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing place and the oxen for 50 pieces of silver. ²⁵ Then he built an altar for the Lord. He offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask for his blessings.

The Lord answered the prayers of the people, and no one else died from the terrible disease.

Peter and John Heal a Lame Man

3 The time of prayer^[a] was about three o'clock in the afternoon, and Peter and John were going into the temple. ² A man who had been born lame was being carried to the temple door. Each day he was placed beside this door, known as the Beautiful Gate. He sat there and begged from the people who were going in.

³ The man saw Peter and John entering the temple, and he asked them for money. ⁴ But they looked straight at him and said, “Look up at us!”

⁵ The man stared at them and thought he was going to get something. ⁶ But Peter said, “I don't have any silver or gold! But I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, get up and start walking.” ⁷ Peter then took him by the right hand and helped him up.

At once the man's feet and ankles became strong, ⁸ and he jumped up and started walking. He went with Peter and John into the temple, walking and jumping and praising God. ⁹ Everyone saw him walking around and praising God. ¹⁰ They knew he was the beggar who had been lying beside the Beautiful Gate, and they were completely surprised. They could not imagine what had happened to the man.

Peter Speaks in the Temple

¹¹ While the man kept holding on to Peter and John, the whole crowd ran to them in amazement at the place known as Solomon's Porch.^{[b] 12} Peter saw that a crowd had gathered, and he said:

Friends, why are you surprised at what has happened? Why are you staring at us? Do you think we have some power of our own? Do you think we were able to make this man walk because we are so religious? ^13 (A) The God that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and our other ancestors worshiped has brought honor to his Servant^[c] Jesus. He is the one you betrayed. You turned against him when he was being tried by Pilate, even though Pilate wanted to set him free.

^14 (B) You rejected Jesus, who was holy and good. You asked for a murderer to be set free, ¹⁵ and you killed the one who leads people to life. But God raised him from death, and all of us can tell you what he has done. ¹⁶ You see this man, and you know him. He put his faith in the name of Jesus and was made strong. Faith in Jesus made this man completely well while everyone was watching.

¹⁷ My friends, I am sure you and your leaders didn't know what you were doing. ¹⁸ But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept this promise. ¹⁹ So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven. ²⁰ Then the time will come when the Lord will give you fresh strength. He will send you Jesus, his chosen Messiah. ²¹ But Jesus must stay in heaven until God makes all things new, just as his holy prophets promised long ago.

^22 (C) Moses said, “The Lord your God will choose one of your own people to be a prophet, just as he chose me. Listen to everything he tells you. ^23 (D) No one who disobeys this prophet will be one of God's people any longer.”

²⁴ Samuel and all the other prophets who came later also spoke about what is now happening. ^25 (E) You are really the ones God told his prophets to speak to. And you were given the promise God made to your ancestors. He said to Abraham, “All nations on earth will be blessed because of someone from your family.” ²⁶ God sent his chosen Son^[d] to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins.

(A song for worship.)

A Prayer for Mercy