2 Samuel 24
24
David Takes a Census
(1 Chr 21.1–27)
1The LORD was angry with Israel once more, and he made David bring trouble on them. The LORD said to him, “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah.” 2So 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.”
3But 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?” 4But the king made Joab and his officers obey his order; they left his presence and went out to count the people of Israel.
5They crossed the Jordan and camped south of Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, in the territory of Gad.#24.5 Probable text Aroer… Gad; Hebrew unclear. From there they went north to Jazer, 6and on to Gilead and to Kadesh, in Hittite territory.#24.6 One ancient translation Kadesh, in Hittite territory; Hebrew to the land of Tahtim, Hodshi. Then they went to Dan, and from Dan they went#24.6 Probable text and from Dan they went; Hebrew unclear. west to Sidon. 7Then 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. 8So after nine months and twenty days they returned to Jerusalem, having travelled through the whole country. 9They reported to the king the total number of men capable of military service: 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.
10But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to trouble him, and he said to the LORD, “I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.”
11-12The 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 got up, 13Gad went to him, told him what the LORD had said, and asked, “Which is it to be? Three#24.13 Some ancient translations (and see 1 Chr 21.12) Three; Hebrew Seven. 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.”
14David answered, “I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by human beings. Let the LORD himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful.” 15So 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 70,000 Israelites died. 16When 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.
17David 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.”
18That same day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar to the LORD.” 19David obeyed the LORD's command and went as Gad had told him. 20Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming up to him. He threw himself on the ground in front of David 21and 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.” 23Araunah gave it all to the king#24.23 Probable text to the king; Hebrew to the king the king. and said to him, “May the LORD your God accept your offering.”
24But 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. 25Then 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.
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2 Samuel 24: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
2 Samuel 24
24
1 And the fury of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and he stirred up David among them, saying: "Go, number Israel and Judah."
2 And the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, "Travel through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, so that I may know their number."
3 And Joab said to the king: "May the Lord your God increase your people, who are already great in number, and may he again increase them, one hundredfold, in the sight of my lord the king. But what does my lord the king intend for himself by this kind of thing?"
4 But the words of the king prevailed over the words of Joab and the leaders of the army. And so Joab and the leaders of the military departed from the face of the king, so that they might number the people of Israel.
5 And when they had passed across the Jordan, they arrived at Aroer, to the right of the city, which is in the Valley of Gad.
6 And they continued on through Jazer, into Gilead, and to the lower land of Hodsi. And they arrived in the woodlands of Dan. And going around beside Sidon,
7 they passed near the walls of Tyre, and near all the land of the Hivite and the Canaanite. And they went into the south of Judah, to Beersheba.
8 And having inspected the entire land, after nine months and twenty days, they were present in Jerusalem.
9 Then Joab gave the number of the description of the people to the king. And there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand able-bodied men, who might draw the sword; and of Judah, five hundred thousand fighting men.
10 Then the heart of David struck him, after the people were numbered. And David said to the Lord: "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But I pray that you, O Lord, may take away the iniquity of your servant. For I have acted very foolishly."
11 And David rose up in the morning, and the word of the Lord went to Gad, the prophet and seer of David, saying:
12 "Go, and say to David: 'Thus says the Lord: I present to you a choice of three things. Choose one of these, whichever you will, so that I may do it to you.' "
13 And when Gad had gone to David, he announced it to him, saying: "Either seven years of famine will come to you in your land; or you will flee for three months from your adversaries, and they will pursue you; or there will be a pestilence in your land for three days. Now then, deliberate, and see what word I may respond to him who sent me."
14 Then David said to Gad: "I am in great anguish. But it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than into the hands of men."
15 And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people, from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men.
16 And when the Angel of the Lord had extended his hand over Jerusalem, so that he might destroy it, the Lord took pity on the affliction. And he said to the Angel who was striking the people: "It is enough. Hold back your hand now." And the Angel of the Lord was beside the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 And when he had seen the Angel cutting down the people, David said to the Lord: "I am the one who sinned. I have acted iniquitously. These ones who are the sheep, what have they done? I beg you that your hand may be turned against me and against my father's house."
18 Then Gad went to David on that day, and he said, "Ascend and construct an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
19 And David ascended in accord with the word of Gad, which the Lord had commanded to him.
20 And looking out, Araunah turned his attention to the king and his servants, passing toward him.
21 And going out, he adored the king, lying prone with his face to the ground, and he said, "What is the reason that my lord the king has come to his servant?" And David said to him, "So as to purchase the threshing floor from you, and to build an altar to the Lord, and to quiet the plague that rages among the people."
22 And Araunah said to David: "May my lord the king offer and accept whatever is pleasing to him. You have oxen for a holocaust, and the cart and the yokes of the oxen to use for wood."
23 All these things Araunah gave, as a king to a king. And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept your vow."
24 And in response, the king said to him: "It shall not be as you wish. Instead, I will purchase it from you at a price. For I will not offer to the Lord, my God, holocausts that cost nothing." Therefore, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And in that place, David built an altar to the Lord. And he offered holocausts and peace offerings. And the Lord was gracious to the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
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