1 Chronicles 21
1 Now Satan, designing evil against Israel, put into David's mind the impulse to take the number of Israel.
And there standeth up an adversary against Israel, and persuadeth David to number Israel,
2 And David said to Joab and the captains of the people, Now let all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, be numbered; and give me word so that I may be certain of their number.
And David saith unto Joab, and unto the heads of the people, 'Go, number Israel from Beer-Sheba even unto Dan, and bring unto me, and I know their number.'
3 And Joab said, May the Lord make his people a hundred times more in number than they are; but, my lord king, are they not all my lord's servants? why would my lord have this done? why will he become a cause of sin to Israel?
And Joab saith, 'Jehovah doth add to His people as they are a hundred times; are they not, my lord, O king, all of them to my lord for servants? why doth my lord seek this? why is he for a cause of guilt to Israel?'
4 But the king's word was stronger than Joab's. So Joab went out and went through all Israel and came to Jerusalem.
And the word of the king [is] severe against Joab, and Joab goeth out, and goeth up and down in all Israel, and cometh in to Jerusalem.
5 And Joab gave David the number of all the people; all the men of Israel, able to take up arms, were one million, one hundred thousand men; and those of Judah were four hundred and seventy thousand men, able to take up arms.
And Joab giveth the account of the numbering of the people unto David, and all Israel is a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand, each drawing sword, and Judah [is] four hundred and seventy thousand, each drawing sword.
6 But Levi and Benjamin were not numbered among them, for Joab was disgusted with the king's order.
And Levi and Benjamin he hath not numbered in their midst, for the word of the king was abominable with Joab.
7 And God was not pleased with this thing; so he sent punishment on Israel.
And it is evil in the eyes of God concerning this thing, and He smiteth Israel,
8 Then David said to God, Great has been my sin in doing this; but now, be pleased to take away the sin of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.
and David saith unto God, 'I have sinned exceedingly, in that I have done this thing; and now, cause to pass away, I pray Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly.'
9 Then the word of the Lord came to Gad, David's seer, saying,
And Jehovah speaketh unto Gad, seer of David, saying:
10 Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, so that I may do it to you.
'Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Three — I am stretching out unto thee; choose for thee one of these, and I do [it] to thee.'
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, The Lord says, Take whichever you will:
And Gad cometh in unto David, and saith to him, 'Thus said Jehovah, Take for thee —
12 Three years when there will not be enough food; or three months of war, when you will go in flight before your haters, being in great danger of the sword; or three days of the sword of the Lord, disease in the land, and the angel of the Lord taking destruction through all the land of Israel. Now give thought to the answer I am to take back to him who sent me.
either for three years — famine, or three months to be consumed from the face of thine adversaries, even the sword of thine enemies to overtake, or three days the sword of Jehovah, even pestilence in the land, and a messenger of Jehovah destroying in all the border of Israel; and now, see; what word do I return to Him who is sending me?'
13 And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let me come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men.
And David saith unto Gad, 'I am greatly distressed, let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for very many [are] His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.'
14 So the Lord sent disease on Israel, causing the death of seventy thousand men.
And Jehovah giveth a pestilence in Israel, and there fall of Israel seventy thousand men,
15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem for its destruction: and when he was about to do so, the Lord saw, and had regret for the evil, and said to the angel of destruction, It is enough; do no more. Now the angel of the Lord was by the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
and God sendeth a messenger to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as he is destroying Jehovah hath seen, and is comforted concerning the evil, and saith to the messenger who [is] destroying, 'Enough, now, cease thy hand.' And the messenger of Jehovah is standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite,
16 And David, lifting up his eyes, saw the angel of the Lord there between earth and heaven, with an uncovered sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the responsible men, clothed in haircloth, went down on their faces.
and David lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the messenger of Jehovah standing between the earth and the heavens, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem, and David falleth, and the elders, covered with sackcloth, on their faces.
17 And David said to God, Was it not I who gave the order for the people to be numbered? It is I who have done the sin and the great wrong; but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand, O Lord God, be lifted up against me and against my family, but not against your people to send disease on them.
And David saith unto God, 'Did not I — I say to number the people? Yea, I it [is] who have sinned, and done great evil: and these, the flock, what did they? O Jehovah, my God, let, I pray Thee, Thy hand be on me, and on the house of my father, and not on Thy people — to be plagued.'
18 Then the angel of the Lord gave orders to Gad to say to David that he was to go and put up an altar to the Lord on the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
And the messenger of Jehovah spake unto Gad, saying for David, 'Surely David doth go up to raise an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.'
19 And David went up, as Gad had said in the name of the Lord.
And David goeth up by the word of Gad, that he spake in the name of Jehovah.
20 And Ornan, turning back, saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him went to a secret place. Now Ornan was crushing his grain.
And Ornan turneth back, and seeth the messenger, and his four sons [are] with him, hiding themselves, and Ornan is threshing wheat.
21 And when David came, Ornan, looking, saw him, and came out from the grain-floor and went down on his face to the earth before him.
And David cometh in unto Ornan, and Ornan looketh attentively, and seeth David, and goeth out from the threshing-floor, and boweth himself to David — face to the earth.
22 Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place where this grain-floor is, so that I may put up an altar here to the Lord: let me have it for its full price; so that this disease may be stopped among the people.
And David saith unto Ornan, 'Give to me the place of the threshing-floor, and I build in it an altar to Jehovah; for full silver give it to me, and the plague is restrained from the people.'
23 And Ornan said to David, Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems right to him. See, I give you the oxen for burned offerings and the grain-cleaning instruments for fire-wood, and the grain for the meal offering; I give it all.
And Ornan saith unto David, 'Take to thee — and my lord the king doth that which is good in his eyes: see, I have given the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for a present; the whole I have given.'
24 And King David said to Ornan, No; I will certainly give you the full price for it, because I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or give a burned offering without payment.
And king David saith to Ornan, 'Nay, for I surely buy for full silver; for I do not lift up that which is thine to Jehovah, so as to offer a burnt-offering without cost.'
25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place.
And David giveth to Ornan for the place shekels of gold [in] weight six hundred;
26 And David put up an altar there to the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings with prayers to the Lord; and he gave him an answer from heaven, sending fire on the altar of burned offering.
and David buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and offereth burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and calleth unto Jehovah, and He answereth him with fire from the heavens on the altar of the burnt-offering.
27 Then the Lord gave orders to the angel, and he put back his sword into its cover.
And Jehovah saith to the messenger, and he turneth back his sword unto its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had given him an answer on the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he made an offering there.
At that time when David seeth that Jehovah hath answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificeth there;
29 For the House of the Lord, which Moses had made in the waste land, and the altar of burned offerings, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
and the tabernacle of Jehovah that Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt-offering, [are] at that time in a high place, in Gibeon;
30 But David was not able to go before it to get directions from the Lord, so great was his fear of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
and David is not able to go before it to seek God, for he hath been afraid because of the sword of the messenger of Jehovah.
