1 ARST An opponent decided to cause the Israelite people to have trouble. So he provoked David to find out how many men in Israel were able to be in the army. BSB BSB: Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
2 ARST So David commanded Joab and the other army commanders,“Go out and count all the men in Israel who are able to be in the army. Start at Beersheba in the south and go all the way to Dan in the north. Then come back and report to me, in order that I may know how many men there are.” BSB BSB: So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”
3 ARST But Joab replied,“Your Majesty, I hope that Yahweh will make our army a hundred times larger than it is now. But we all serve you. So you should not commit this sin, your Highness, and make Israel suffer for it.” BSB BSB: But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”
4 ARST But David would not change his mind. So Joab and his soldiers went everywhere in Israel and in Judah, and counted the people. Then they returned to Jerusalem, BSB BSB: Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and traveled throughout Israel, and then he returned to Jerusalem.
5 ARST and they reported to David that there were 1, 100, 000 men in Israel who could be in the army, and 470, 000 men in Judah who could be in the army. BSB BSB: And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah.
6 ARST However, Joab did not count the men from the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, because he was disgusted with what the king had commanded. BSB BSB: But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him.
7 ARST David’ s command to count the people caused God to become angry, so he told David that he had decided to punish the people of Israel. BSB BSB: This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.
8 ARST Then David prayed to God,“What I did was very foolish. I committed a terrible sin by what I have done. So now I plead with you, please forgive me.” BSB BSB: Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9 ARST Then Yahweh said to Gad, David’ s prophet, BSB BSB: And the LORD instructed Gad, David’s seer,
10 ARST “Go and tell this to David:‘Yahweh says,“I am allowing you to choose one of three things to punish you. I will do whichever one you choose.”’” BSB BSB: “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.’”
11 ARST So Gad went to David and said to him,“Yahweh says:‘You can choose one of these punishments: BSB BSB: So Gad went and said to David, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You must choose
12 ARST either three years of famine in Israel, or three months during which your armies will run away from their enemies who will attack and overrun them with swords, or three days of direct punishment from me during which I will send my angel to cause many people in the country to die because of a plague.’ So you must decide what I will say to answer Yahweh, the one who sent me.” BSB BSB: between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
13 ARST David replied to Gad,“I am very distressed. Allow Yahweh to punish me, because he is very merciful, and do not allow humans to punish me.” BSB BSB: David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
14 ARST So Yahweh sent a plague on the people of Israel, and 70, 000 Israelite people died because of the plague. BSB BSB: So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.
15 ARST And God sent an angel to kill the people in Jerusalem with the plague. While the angel was killing people, Yahweh saw all the suffering that the people had endured and decided to stop the killing. So he said to the angel when the angel was standing at the place where Ornan, from the Jebus people group, threshed grain,“Stop what you are doing! That is enough!” BSB BSB: Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 ARST David looked up and saw the angel whom Yahweh had sent, standing between the sky and the ground. The angel had a sword in his hand that he pointed toward Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of the city, who were wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, prostrated themselves on the ground. BSB BSB: When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
17 ARST David prayed to God,“I am the one who ordered the census of the men who could be in the army. I am the one who has sinned and done what is wrong, but these people are as innocent as sheep. They have certainly not done anything that is wrong. So Yahweh my God, punish me and my family, but do not allow this plague to continue to cause your people to become sick and die.” BSB BSB: And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”
18 ARST Then the angel whom Yahweh had sent told Gad to tell David to go up to the place where Ornan threshed grain and build an altar to worship Yahweh there. BSB BSB: Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19 ARST So after Gad told David, he obeyed the message that Yahweh had given to Gad, and he went up there. BSB BSB: So David went up at the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD.
20 ARST While Ornan was threshing some wheat, he turned and saw the angel. His four sons who were with him also saw the angel, and they hid themselves. BSB BSB: Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
21 ARST Then David approached the place where Ornan was. When Ornan saw him, Ornan left the place where he was threshing grain and prostrated himself in front of David, with his face touching the ground. BSB BSB: David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before David.
22 ARST David said to Ornan,“Sell me this threshing place so I can build an altar here to worship Yahweh, in order that he will stop this plague. I will pay the full price.” BSB BSB: Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”
23 ARST Ornan answered David,“Take it! Your Majesty, do whatever you want to. I will even give you the oxen that thresh the grain for a fully burnt offering on the altar, the threshing boards to use as wood on the altar, and the flour for a flour offering. I will provide everything.” BSB BSB: Ornan said to David, “Take it! May my lord the king do whatever seems good to him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I will give it all.”
24 ARST But King David said to Ornan,“No, I must pay you the full price, because I will not take things that belong to you and offer them to Yahweh as a fully burnt offering when they cost me nothing.” BSB BSB: “No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
25 ARST So David paid Ornan six and one- half kilograms of gold for the whole area. BSB BSB: So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site.
26 ARST David built an altar to worship Yahweh there, and he offered on the altar fully burnt sacrifices and sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh. David prayed to Yahweh, and Yahweh answered by sending a fire from heaven to burn up the offerings on the altar. BSB BSB: And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27 ARST Then Yahweh told the angel to put his sword back into its sheath. So the angel did that. BSB BSB: Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.
28 ARST And when David saw that Yahweh had answered him there at the place where Ornan threshed grain and had ended the plague, he offered sacrifices there. BSB BSB: At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there.
29 ARST At that time, Yahweh’ s sacred tent, which Moses had commanded others to build in the wilderness, and the altar for burning sacrifices completely, were on a hill used for worship near the city of Gibeon. BSB BSB: For the tabernacle of the LORD that Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Gibeon,
30 ARST But David did not want to go there to request God to tell him what he wanted David to do, because he was afraid that the angel sent from Yahweh might strike him with his sword. BSB BSB: but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.