CHAPTER 24
Again
the anger
of the LORD
burned
against Israel,
and He stirred up
David
against them,
saying,
“Go,
take a census
of Israel
and Judah.”
So the king
said
to
Joab
the commander
of his army,
who was
with him,
“Go
now
throughout
the tribes
of Israel
from Dan
to
Beersheba
and register
the troops,
so that I may know
their number.”
But Joab
replied
to
the king,
“May the LORD
your God
multiply
the troops
a hundred
times
over
and may the eyes
of my lord
the king
see it.
But why
does my lord
the king
want
to do such
a thing?"
Nevertheless, the king's
word
prevailed
against
Joab
and against
the commanders
of the army.
So Joab
and the commanders
of the army
departed
from the presence
of the king
to count
the troops
of Israel.
They crossed
the Jordan
and camped
near Aroer,
south
of the town
in the middle
of the valley,
and proceeded toward Gad
and Jazer.
Then they went
to Gilead
and to
the land
of Tahtim-hodshi
and continued
on to Dan-jaan
and around
to
Sidon.
They went
toward the fortress
of Tyre
and all
the cities
of the Hivites
and Canaanites.
Finally, they went on
to
the Negev
of Judah,
to Beersheba.
At the end
of nine
months
and twenty
days,
having gone
through the whole
land,
they returned
to Jerusalem.
And Joab
reported
to the king
the total
number
of the troops.
In Israel
there were
800,000
valiant warriors
who drew
the sword,
and in Judah
there were 500,000.
After
David had numbered
the troops,
his
conscience
was stricken
and he
said
to
the LORD,
“I have sinned
greatly
in what
I have done.
Now,
O LORD,
I beg You
to take away
the iniquity
of Your servant,
for
I have acted very
foolishly."
When David
got up
in the morning,
a revelation
from the LORD
had come
to
Gad
the prophet,
David’s
seer:
“Go
and tell
David
that this is what
the LORD
says:
‘I
am offering
you three options.
Choose
one
of them,
and I will carry it out
against you.’”
So Gad
went
and said
to
David,
“Shall you endure
three
years
of famine
on your land,
or
three
months
of fleeing
the pursuit
of
your enemies,
or
three
days
of
plague
upon your land?
Now then,
think it over
and decide
how
I should reply
to Him who sent me."
David
answered
Gad,
“I am
deeply
distressed.
Please,
let us fall
into the hands
of the LORD,
for
His mercies are
great;
but do not
let me fall
into the hands
of men.”
So the LORD
sent
a plague
on Israel
from that morning
until
the appointed
time,
and of
the people
from Dan
to
Beersheba,
seventy
thousand
men
died.
But when the angel
stretched
out his hand
to destroy
Jerusalem,
the LORD
relented
from
the calamity
and said
to the angel
who was destroying
the people,
“Enough,
withdraw
your hand
now!”
At that time the angel
of the LORD
was
by
the threshing floor
of Araunah
the Jebusite.
When David
saw
the angel
striking down
the people,
he said
to
the LORD,
“Surely
I, the shepherd,
have sinned
and
acted wickedly.
But these
sheep,
what
have they done?
Please,
let Your hand
fall upon
me
and my father's
house."
And that
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.”
When Araunah
looked out
and saw
the king
and his servants
coming
toward him,
he
went out
and bowed
facedown
before the king.
“Why
has my lord
the king
come
to
his servant?”
Araunah
said.
“To buy
your threshing floor,”
David
replied,
“that I may build
an altar
to the LORD,
so that the plague
on
the people
may be halted.”
Araunah
said
to
David,
“My lord
the king
may take
whatever seems good
and offer it up.
Here are the oxen
for a burnt offering
and the threshing sledges
and ox
yokes
for the wood.
O king,
Araunah
gives
all these
to the king.”
He also
said
to
the king,
“May the LORD
your God
accept you.”
“No,”
replied
the king,
“I insist on paying
a price,
for I will not
offer
to the LORD
my God
burnt offerings
that cost me nothing.”
So David
bought
the threshing floor
and the oxen
for fifty
shekels
of silver.
And
there
he built
an altar
to the LORD
and offered
burnt offerings
and peace offerings.
Then the LORD
answered the prayers
on behalf of the land,
and the plague
on
Israel
was halted.