David’s Military Census (Exodus 30:11–16; 1 Chronicles 21:1–6)
1 UDB Yahweh was angry with the Israelite people again, so he incited David to cause trouble for them. He said to David, "Send some men to count the people of Israel and Judah." BSB BSB: Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
2 UDB So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, "Go with your officers through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan in the far north to Beersheba in the far south, and count the people so that I may know how many people there are who are able to be soldiers in the army." BSB BSB: 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.”
3 UDB But Joab replied to the king, "Your Majesty, I wish that Yahweh our God will cause there to be a hundred times as many people in Israel as there are now, and I wish that you would see that happen before you die. But why do you want us to do this?" BSB BSB: 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?”
4 UDB But the king commanded Joab and his officers to do it. So they left the king and went out to count the people of Israel. BSB BSB: 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 register the troops of Israel.
5 UDB They crossed the Jordan River and set up their tents south of Aroer, in the middle of the valley, in the territory that was given to the tribe of Gad. From there they went north to Jazer. BSB BSB: They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer.
6 UDB Then they went north to Gilead and to Kadesh, in the land where the Heth people lived. Then they went to Dan in the far north of Israel, and then further west to Sidon near the Mediterranean Sea. BSB BSB: Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon.
7 UDB Then they went south to Tyre, a city with high walls around it, and to all the cities where the Hiv and Canaanite peoples lived. Then they went east to Beersheba, in the southern wilderness of Judah. BSB BSB: 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.
8 UDB After nine months and twenty days, when they had finished going throughout the land and counting the people, they returned to Jerusalem. BSB BSB: At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem.
9 UDB They reported to the king the number of people that they had counted. There were 800,000 men in Israel and 500,000 men in Judah who were able to become soldiers in the army. BSB BSB: And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.
Judgment for David’s Sin (1 Chronicles 21:7–13)
10 UDB But after David's men had counted the people, David regretted that he had told them to do that. One night he said to Yahweh, "I have committed a very great sin. Please forgive your servant, because what I have done is very foolish." BSB BSB: 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.”
11 UDB When David got up the next morning, Yahweh gave a message to the prophet Gad. He said to him, BSB BSB: When David got up in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:
12 UDB "Go and tell this to David: '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.’”
13 UDB So Gad went to David and told him what Yahweh had said. He said to David, "You can choose whether there will be three years of famine in your land, three months of your army running away from your enemies, or three days when there will be a plague in your land. You must think about it and choose which one you want, and tell me, and I will return to Yahweh and tell him what your answer is." BSB BSB: So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, 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.”
14 UDB David said to Gad, "All those are very terrible things for me to choose between! But allow Yahweh to punish me, because he is very merciful. Do not allow humans to punish me, because they will not be merciful." BSB BSB: David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
A Plague on Israel (1 Chronicles 21:14–17)
15 UDB So Yahweh sent a plague on the Israelite people. It started that morning and did not stop until the time that he had chosen. All over the land, from Dan to Beersheba, there were seventy thousand Israelites who died because of the plague. BSB BSB: So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.
16 UDB When Yahweh's angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy the people by this plague, Yahweh grieved about punishing any more people. He said to the angel who was killing them with the plague, "Stop what you are doing! That is enough!" When he said that, the angel was standing at the ground where Araunah, from the Jebus people, threshed grain. BSB BSB: 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.
17 UDB When David saw the angel who was causing the people to become sick and die, he said to Yahweh, "Truly, I am the one who has committed the sin. I have done a very wicked thing, but these people are as innocent as sheep. They have certainly not done anything that is wrong. So you should punish me and my family, not these people!" BSB BSB: 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.”
David Builds an Altar (1 Chronicles 21:18–30)
18 UDB That day Gad came to David and said to him, "Go up to the place where Araunah threshes grain, and build an altar to worship Yahweh there." BSB BSB: 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.”
19 UDB So David did what Gad told him to do, which was what Yahweh had commanded, and he went up there. BSB BSB: So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded.
20 UDB When Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he prostrated himself on the ground in front of the king with his face touching the ground. BSB BSB: When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king.
21 UDB Araunah said, "Your Majesty, why have you come to me?" David replied, "I have come to buy this ground where you thresh grain, in order to build an altar to Yahweh and offer sacrifices on it, so that he will stop the plague." BSB BSB: “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 upon the people may be halted.”
22 UDB Araunah replied to David, "Your Majesty, offer to Yahweh whatever you wish. Here, take my oxen to use for the offering that will be completely burned on the altar. And here, take their yokes and the boards that I use for the threshing and use them for the wood that you will burn. BSB BSB: Araunah said to David, “May my lord the king take whatever seems good to him and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.
23 UDB I, Araunah, am giving all this to you, my king." Then he said, "I desire that Yahweh our God will accept your offering." BSB BSB: O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”
24 UDB But the king said to Araunah, "No, I will not take these things as a gift. I will pay you for it. I will not offer sacrifices that have cost me nothing and offer them to Yahweh to be completely burned on the altar." So he paid fifty pieces of silver to Araunah for the oxen and the ground. BSB BSB: “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.
25 UDB Then David built an altar to Yahweh, and he offered the oxen to be completely burned on the altar, and he also offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh. Then, Yahweh answered David's prayers, and he caused the plague in Israel to end. BSB BSB: 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 upon Israel was halted.
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