2 Samuel 24
24
David’s Census
1 # For ver. 1-25, see 1 Chr. 21:1-28 # [1 Chr. 21:1] Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, #[1 Chr. 27:23, 24]“Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,#24:2 Septuagint to Joab and the commanders of the army who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, #ver. 15; See ch. 3:10from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3But Joab said to the king, #Deut. 1:11“May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5They crossed the Jordan and began from #Deut. 2:36; Josh. 13:9, 16 Aroer,#24:5 Septuagint; Hebrew encamped in Aroer and from the city that is in the middle of the #[Num. 13:23] valley, toward Gad and on to #Num. 21:32; 32:1, 3Jazer. 6Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;#24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew to the land of Tahtim-hodshi and they came to Dan, and from Dan#24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew they came to Dan-jaan and they went around to #Josh. 19:28; Judg. 18:28Sidon, 7and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the #Josh. 11:3; Judg. 3:3Hivites and #Josh. 11:3; Judg. 3:3Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men #Judg. 8:10who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
The Lord’s Judgment of David’s Sin
10But #1 Sam. 24:5 David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, #ch. 12:13 “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done #See 1 Sam. 13:13very foolishly.” 11And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to #See 1 Sam. 22:5 the prophet Gad, David’s #See 1 Sam. 9:9seer, saying, 12“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer#24:12 Or hold over you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall #[1 Chr. 21:12]three#24:13 Compare 1 Chronicles 21:12, Septuagint; Hebrew seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, #Ps. 119:156for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”
15 #
1 Chr. 27:24 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from #ver. 2Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16And when #2 Kgs. 19:35; 2 Chr. 32:21; Isa. 37:36; Acts 12:23 the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem #Ex. 12:13, 23 to destroy it, #Gen. 6:6; 1 Sam. 15:11; Joel 2:13, 14; Jonah 3:10 the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel #Ex. 12:13, 23 who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And #2 Kgs. 19:35; 2 Chr. 32:21; Isa. 37:36; Acts 12:23 the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of #[2 Chr. 3:1]Araunah the Jebusite. 17Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”
David Builds an Altar
18And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of #[2 Chr. 3:1]Araunah the Jebusite.” 19So David went up at Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded. 20And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague #Num. 16:48, 50may be averted from the people.” 22Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the #1 Kgs. 19:21threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God #Deut. 33:11; [Ps. 20:3]accept you.” 24But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels#24:24 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams of silver. 25And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. #ch. 21:14So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
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2 Samuel 24
24
David Counts His Army
1The Lord was angry with Israel again, and he caused David to turn against the Israelites. He said, “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”
2So King David said to Joab, the commander of the army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people. Then I will know how many there are.”
3But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God give you a hundred times more people, and may my master the king live to see this happen. Why do you want to do this?”
4But the king commanded Joab and the commanders of the army, so they left the king to count the Israelites.
5After crossing the Jordan River, they camped near Aroer on the south side of the city in the ravine. They went through Gad and on to Jazer. 6Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim Hodshi and to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon. 7They went to the strong, walled city of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went to southern Judah, to Beersheba. 8After nine months and twenty days, they had gone through all the land. Then they came back to Jerusalem.
9Joab gave the list of the people to the king. There were eight hundred thousand men in Israel who could use the sword and five hundred thousand men in Judah.
10David felt ashamed after he had counted the people. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by what I have done. Lord, I beg you to forgive me, your servant, because I have been very foolish.”
11When David got up in the morning, the Lord spoke his word to Gad, who was a prophet and David’s seer. 12The Lord told Gad, “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I offer you three choices. Choose one of them and I will do it to you.’ ”
13So Gad went to David and said to him, “Should three years of hunger come to you and your land? Or should your enemies chase you for three months? Or should there be three days of disease in your land? Think about it. Then decide which of these things I should tell the Lord who sent me.”
14David said to Gad, “I am in great trouble. Let the Lord punish us, because the Lord is very merciful. Don’t let my punishment come from human beings!”
15So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the chosen time to stop. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand people died. 16When the angel raised his arm toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened. He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “That is enough! Put down your arm!” The angel of the Lord was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17When David saw the angel that killed the people, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who sinned and did wrong. These people only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong. Please punish me and my family.”
18That day Gad came to David and said, “Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19So David did what Gad told him to do, just as the Lord commanded.
20Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming to him. So he went out and bowed facedown on the ground before the king. 21He said, “Why has my master the king come to me?”
David answered, “To buy the threshing floor from you so I can build an altar to the Lord. Then the terrible disease will stop.”
22Araunah said to David, “My master and king, you may take anything you want for a sacrifice. Here are some oxen for the whole burnt offering and the threshing boards and the yokes for the wood. 23My king, I give everything to you.” Araunah also said to the king, “May the Lord your God be pleased with you.”
24But the king answered Araunah, “No, I will pay you for the land. 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 one and one-fourth pounds of silver. 25He built an altar to the Lord there and offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer for the country, and the disease in Israel stopped.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.