2 Samuel 24

¹ And again was the anger of the Lord kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

² And the king said to Joab the captain of the army, who was with him, Traverse, I pray thee, all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer–sheba’, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.

³ Then said Joab unto the king, Now may the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundred–fold more, and may the eyes of my Lord the king see it; but why doth my Lord the king find delight in this thing?

⁴ Nevertheless the king’s word remained firm against Joab, and against the captains of the army: and Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

⁵ And they passed over the Jordan, and encamped in ‘Aro’er, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the valley of Gad, and toward Ya’zer:

⁶ Then they came to Gil’ad, and to the land of Tachtimchodshi; and they came to Dan–ya’an, and about to Zidon;

⁷ And they came to the strong–hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites; and they went out to the south of Judah, up to Beer–sheba’.

⁸ And so they traversed all the land, and they came at the end of nine months and twenty days to Jerusalem.

⁹ And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, cause the iniquity of thy servant to pass away; for I have acted very foolishly.

¹¹ And when David was arisen in the morning, The word of the Lord came unto Gad the prophet, David’s seer, saying,

¹² Go and speak unto David, Thus hath said the Lord, Three things do I offer thee: choose for thyself one of them, and I will do it unto thee.

¹³ So Gad came to David, and told it unto him; and he said unto him, Shall there come unto thee seven years of famine in thy land? or three months, that thou flee before thy enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be for three days a pestilence in thy land? now consider and see what word I shall bring back to him that hath sent me.

¹⁴ And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall then into the hand of the Lord,––for his mercies are great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.

¹⁵ And the Lord sent a pestilence in Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer–sheba’ seventy thousand men.

¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord bethought himself of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed among the people, It is enough: now stay thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingfloor of Aravnah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ And David spoke unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote among the people, and said, Lo, I have indeed sinned, and I have truly done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.

¹⁸ And Gad came to David on that day, and said unto him, Go up, erect an altar unto the Lord on the threshing–floor of Aravnah the Jebusite.

¹⁹ And David went up, according to the word of Gad, as the Lord had commanded.

²⁰ And Aravnah looked up, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Aravnah went out, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ And Aravnah said, Wherefore is my Lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy from thee the threshingfloor, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

²² And Aravnah said unto David, Let my Lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good in his eyes: behold, the oxen are here for burnt–offerings, and the threshing rollers and the harness of the oxen for wood.

²³ All these things did Aravnah, for the king, give unto the king. And Aravnah said unto the king, May the Lord thy God receive thee favorably.

²⁴ And the king said unto Aravnah, No; but I will surely buy it from thee at the value; for I will not offer burnt–offerings unto the Lord my God without paying therefor. So David bought the threshing–floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵ And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt–offerings and peace–offerings: and the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.