2 Samuel 24
1 And the Lord caused his anger to
burn forth again in Israel, and Satan stirred up
David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Juda.
2 And the king said to Joab commander
of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel and
Juda, from Dan even to Bersabee, and number the people, and I will know the
number of the people. 3 And Joab said
to the king, Now may the Lord add to the people a hundred-fold as many as they
are, and may the eyes of my lord the king
aGr. seeing.see it: but why does my lord the king desire this thing?
4 Nevertheless the word of the king
prevailed against Joab and the captains of the host:
And Joab and the captains of the host went out before the king to number the
people of Israel. 5 And they went over
Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right of the city which is in the midst
of the valley of Gad and Eliezer.
6 And they came to Galaad, and into
the land of Thabason, which is Adasai, and they came to Danidan and Udan, and
compassed Sidon. 7 And they came to
Mapsar of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Evite and the Chananite: and they
came by the south of Juda to Bersabee.
8 And they compassed the whole land;
and they arrived at Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab gave in the number of the
census of the people to the king: and Israel consisted of eight hundred
thousand men of might that drew sword; and the men of Juda, five hundred
thousand fighting men.
10 And the heart of David smote him
after he had numbered the people; and David said to the Lord, I have sinned
grievously, O Lord, in what I have now done: remove,
I pray thee, the iniquity of thy servant, for I have been exceedingly foolish.
11 And David rose early in the
morning, and the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, the seer, saying,
Go, and speak to David, saying,
12 Thus saith the Lord,
bThe word εἰμὶ is simply redundant.I bring one of three things upon thee: now choose
thee one of them, and I will do it to thee.
13 And Gad went in to David, and told
him, and said to him, Choose one of these things to
befal thee, whether there shall come upon thee
for three years famine in thy land; or that thou
shouldest flee three months before thine enemies, and they should pursue thee;
or that there should be for three days mortality in
thy land. Now then decide, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent
me. 14 And David said to Gad, On
every side
cGr. things are very narrow to me.I am much straitened: let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, for his
compassions are very many; and let me not fall into
the hands of man.
15 So David chose for himself the
mortality: and they were the days of wheat-harvest;
and the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from morning till
dLit. dinner time.noon, and the plague began among the people; and there died of the people
from Dan even to Bersabee seventy thousand men.
16 And the angel of the Lord
stretched out his hand against Jerusalem to destroy it, and the Lord repented
of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people,
It is
eGr. much.enough now, withhold thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the
threshing-floor of Orna the Jebusite.
17 And David spoke to the Lord when
he saw the angel smiting the people, and he said, Behold, it is I that have
done wrong,
fAlex. adds, 'and I the shepherd have done wickedly.'but these sheep what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be upon me,
and upon my father's house.
18 And Gad came to David in that day,
and said to him, Go up, and set up to the Lord an altar in the threshing-floor
of Orna the Jebusite. 19 And David
went up according to the word of Gad, as the Lord commanded him.
20 And Orna
gGr. stooped. See 1 Pet. 1. 12.; also John 20. 5.looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on before him: and Orna
went forth, and did obeisance to the king with his face to the earth.
21 And Orna said, Why has my lord the
king come to his servant? and David said, To buy of thee the threshing-floor,
in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be restrained from
off the people. 22 And Orna said to
David, Let my lord the king take and offer to the Lord that which is good in
his eyes: behold, here are oxen for a
whole-burnt-offering, and the wheels and furniture of the oxen for wood.
23 Orna gave all to the king: and
Orna said to the king, The Lord thy God bless thee.
24 And the king said to Orna, Nay,
but I will surely buy it of thee at a fair price, and I will not offer to the
Lord my God a whole-burnt-offering for nothing. So David purchased the
threshing-floor and the oxen for
hGr. silver of fifty shekels.fifty shekels of silver. 25 And
David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered up whole-burnt-offerings
and peace-offerings: and Solomon made an addition to the altar afterwards, for
it was little at first. And the Lord hearkened to the land, and the plague was
stayed from Israel.