-
And again
the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,
and he moved David against them to say, Go,
number Israel and Judah.
02 For the king said to Joab the captain of the
host, which was with him, Go now through all the
tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and
number ye the people, that I may know the number
of the people.
03 And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy
God add unto the people, how many soever they be,
an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the
king may see it: but why doth my lord the king
delight in this thing?
04 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed
against Joab, and against the captains of the
host. And Joab and the captains of the host went
out from the presence of the king, to number the
people of Israel.
05 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in
Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth
in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward
Jazer:
06 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of
Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about
to Zidon,
07 And 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, even to Beersheba.
08 So when they had gone through all the land,
they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months
and twenty days.
09 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 that I have done:
and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the
iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very
foolishly.
11 For when David was up in the morning, the word
of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's
seer, saying,
12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I
offer thee three things; choose thee one of them,
that I may do it unto thee.
13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said
unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto
thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months
before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or
that there be three days' pestilence in thy land?
now advise, and see what answer I shall return to
him that sent me.
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14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great
strait: let us fall now into the hand of the
Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not
fall into the hand of man.
15 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from
the morning even to the time appointed: and there
died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba
seventy thousand men.
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon
Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of
the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed
the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand.
And the angel of the Lord was by the
threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the
angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have
sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these
sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I
pray thee, be against me, and against my father's
house.
18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto
him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the
threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19 And David, according to the saying of Gad,
went up as the Lord commanded.
20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his
servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went
out, and bowed himself before the king on his
face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the
king come to his servant? And David said, To buy
the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar
unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from
the people.
22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the
king take and offer up what seemeth good unto
him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice,
and threshing instruments and other instruments
of the oxen for wood.
23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give
unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king,
The Lord thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I
will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither
will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God
of that which doth cost me nothing. So David
bought the threshingfloor 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.
So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the
plague was stayed from Israel.
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