2 Samuel 24
24
David and the Census of the People
1Again Yahweh was angry with Israel, and he#The parallel passage in 1 Chr 21 names the “he” as Satan incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” 2The king said to Joab, the commander of the army who was with him: “Please go about through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people that I may know the number of the people.” 3Then Joab said to the king, “May Yahweh your God increase the people a hundred times what they are#Literally “as them and as them” as the eyes of my lord the king are seeing. But my lord the king, why does he desire this thing?” 4But the word of the king prevailed over Joab and over the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel. 5They crossed over the Jordan and camped at Aroer to the south of the city, which was in the middle of the wadi of Gad, and up to Jazer. 6Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi. They came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon 7and came to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the Negev of Judah at Beersheba. 8They went about through all the land, and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9Then Joab gave the number of the counting of the people to the king. Israel was eight hundred thousand valiant warriors#Literally “men of ability” wielding the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand. 10The heart of David struck him after he had counted the people, and David said to Yahweh, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done! So then, O Yahweh, please forgive the guilt of your servant because I have acted very foolishly.” 11When David got up in the morning, the word of Yahweh came to Gad the prophet, the seer of David, saying, 12“Go and speak to David, ‘Thus says Yahweh, three things I am laying on you; choose for yourself one of them and I will do it to you.’ ” 13Then Gad came to David, and he told him and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine in the land come to you? Or three months of your fleeing from your enemies while he is pursuing you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must return to the one who sent me a word.” 14Then David said to Gad, “I am greatly distressed. Please let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, because he is great in his compassion; but into the hand of man don’t let me fall.” 15Then Yahweh sent a plague into Israel from the morning until the agreed time,#Literally “until the time of agreed time” and from the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died.
16When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, “Enough, now relax your hand.” Now the angel of Yahweh was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, “Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.” 18Then Gad came to David on that same day and said to him, “Go up and erect an altar to Yahweh at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19So David went up according to the word of Gad, as Yahweh had commanded. 20Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming over to him, so Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. 21Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy from you the threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh who brought a halt to the plague on the people.” 22Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer what is good in his eyes. Look, here are the cattle for the burnt offering and the threshing sledge and the yokes of the oxen for the firewood. 23All of this Araunah hereby gives to the king.” Then Araunah said to the king, “May Yahweh your God respond favorably for you.” 24Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy#Literally “buying I will buy” it from you for a price; I don’t want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver. 25David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to his prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.
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2 Samuel 24
24
David Takes a Census
1Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.
2So the king said to Joab and the commanders#24:2 As in Greek version (see also 24:4 and 1 Chr 21:2); Hebrew reads Joab the commander. of the army, “Take a census of all the tribes of Israel—from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south—so I may know how many people there are.”
3But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?”
4But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out to count the people of Israel. 5First they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, south of the town in the valley, in the direction of Gad. Then they went on to Jazer, 6then to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi#24:6 Greek version reads to Gilead and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. and to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 7Then they came to the fortress of Tyre, and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went south to Judah#24:7 Or they went to the Negev of Judah. as far as Beersheba.
8Having gone through the entire land for nine months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem. 9Joab reported the number of people to the king. There were 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword, and 500,000 in Judah.
Judgment for David’s Sin
10But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”
11The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: 12“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”
13So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three#24:13 As in Greek version (see also 1 Chr 21:12); Hebrew reads seven. years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”
14“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”
15So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days.#24:15 Hebrew for the designated time. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.”
David Builds an Altar
18That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21“Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked.
David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”
22“Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”
24But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver#24:24 Hebrew 50 shekels of silver, about 20 ounces or 570 grams in weight. for the threshing floor and the oxen.
25David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
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