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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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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2 Samuel 24
24
1 Again the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.” 2The king said to Joab the captain of the army, who was with him, “Now go back and forth through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the sum of the people.”
3 Joab said to the king, “Now may the LORD your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”
4Notwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel. 5They passed over the Jordan and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and to Jazer; 6then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; and they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon, 7and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites; and they went out to the south of Judah, at Beersheba. 8So when they had gone back and forth through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9Joab gave up the sum of the counting of the people to the king; and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10 David’s heart struck him after he had counted the people. David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in that which I have done. But now, the LORD, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.”
11 When David rose up in the morning, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12“Go and speak to David, ‘The LORD says, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’”
13 So Gad came to David, and told him, saying, “Shall 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 answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
14 David said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let us fall now into the LORD’s hand, for his mercies are great. Let me not fall into man’s hand.”
15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the appointed time; and seventy thousand men died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba. 16When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” The LORD’s angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father’s house.”
18 Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 David went up according to the saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded. 20Araunah looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. Then Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
David said, “To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”
22Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, the cattle for the burnt offering, and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23All this, O king, does Araunah give to the king.” Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”
24 The king said to Araunah, “No, but I will most certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels#24:24 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 50 shekels is about 0.5 kilograms or 1.1 pounds. of silver. 25David built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.
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