II Samuel 24

1. And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He incited David against them to say, “Go count Israel and Judah.”

2. So the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people so that I may know the number of the people.”

3. And Joab said to the king, “And may the LORD your God add to the people however many they be, a hundred times as many, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”

4. But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. And Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.

5. Then they passed over Jordan and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the Valley of Gad, and to Jazer.

6. And they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi. And they came to Dan Jaan, and around to Sidon.

7. And they came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites; and went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba.

8. And they went to and fro through all the land, and came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

9. And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand strong men who drew the sword. And the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

10. And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. And now, I beseech You, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

11. And David rose up in the morning. And the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

12. “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, so that I may do it to you.” ’ ”

13. And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come upon you and on your land? Or will you flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”

14. And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall now into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great. And do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

15. And the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning even till the time appointed. And there died from the people, from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men.

16. And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD turned from the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “Enough! And stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.

17. And David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? I pray You, let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

18. And Gad came that day to David, and said to him, “Go up! Raise up an altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

19. And David went up, according to the saying of Gad, 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 before the king, his face to the ground.

21. And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague may be stayed from the people.”

22. And Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments, and instruments of the oxen for wood.”

23. All these Araunah, as a king, gave to the king. And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

24. And the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy from you at a price. And I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God of that which costs me nothing.” And David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25. And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.