2 Samuel 24

1 And the fury of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and he stirred up David among them, saying: “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

Again the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and moving David against them, he said, Go, take the number of Israel and Judah.

2 And the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, “Travel through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, so that I may know their number.”

And the king said to Joab and the captains of the army, who were with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, and have all the people numbered, so that I may be certain of the number of the people.

3 And Joab said to the king: “May the Lord your God increase your people, who are already great in number, and may he again increase them, one hundredfold, in the sight of my lord the king. But what does my lord the king intend for himself by this kind of thing?”

And Joab said to the king, Whatever the number of the people, may the Lord make it a hundred times as much, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this thing?

4 But the words of the king prevailed over the words of Joab and the leaders of the army. And so Joab and the leaders of the military departed from the face of the king, so that they might number the people of Israel.

But the king's order was stronger than Joab and the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the king, to take the number of the children of Israel.

5 And when they had passed across the Jordan, they arrived at Aroer, to the right of the city, which is in the Valley of Gad.

And they went over Jordan, and starting from Aroer, from the town which is in the middle of the valley, they went in the direction of the Gadites, and on to Jazer;

6 And they continued on through Jazer, into Gilead, and to the lower land of Hodsi. And they arrived in the woodlands of Dan. And going around beside Sidon,

Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of the Hittites under Hermon; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they came round to Zidon,

7 they passed near the walls of Tyre, and near all the land of the Hivite and the Canaanite. And they went into the south of Judah, to Beersheba.

And to the walled town of Tyre, and to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites: and they went out to the South of Judah at Beer-sheba.

8 And having inspected the entire land, after nine months and twenty days, they were present in Jerusalem.

So after going through all the land in every direction, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

9 Then Joab gave the number of the description of the people to the king. And there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand able-bodied men, who might draw the sword; and of Judah, five hundred thousand fighting men.

And Joab gave the king the number of all the people: there were in Israel eight hundred thousand fighting men able to take up arms; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand.

10 Then the heart of David struck him, after the people were numbered. And David said to the Lord: “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But I pray that you, O Lord, may take away the iniquity of your servant. For I have acted very foolishly.”

And after the people had been numbered, David's heart was troubled. And David said to the Lord, Great has been my sin in doing this; but now, O Lord, be pleased to take away the sin of your servant, for I have done very foolishly

11 And David rose up in the morning, and the word of the Lord went to Gad, the prophet and seer of David, saying:

And David got up in the morning; now the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

12 “Go, and say to David: ‘Thus says the Lord: I present to you a choice of three things. Choose one of these, whichever you will, so that I may do it to you.’”

Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, and I will do it to you.

13 And when Gad had gone to David, he announced it to him, saying: “Either seven years of famine will come to you in your land; or you will flee for three months from your adversaries, and they will pursue you; or there will be a pestilence in your land for three days. Now then, deliberate, and see what word I may respond to him who sent me.”

So Gad came to David, and gave him word of this and said to him, Are there to be three years when there is not enough food in your land? or will you go in flight from your haters for three months, while they go after you? or will you have three days of violent disease in your land? take thought and say what answer I am to give to him who sent me.

14 Then David said to Gad: “I am in great anguish. But it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than into the hands of men.”

And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let us come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men.

15 And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people, from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men.

So David made selection of the disease; and the time was the days of the grain-cutting, when the disease came among the people, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan as far as Beer-sheba.

16 And when the Angel of the Lord had extended his hand over Jerusalem, so that he might destroy it, the Lord took pity on the affliction. And he said to the Angel who was striking the people: “It is enough. Hold back your hand now.” And the Angel of the Lord was beside the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

And when the hand of the angel was stretched out in the direction of Jerusalem, for its destruction, the Lord had regret for the evil, and said to the angel who was sending destruction on the people, It is enough; do no more. And the angel of the Lord was by the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 And when he had seen the Angel cutting down the people, David said to the Lord: “I am the one who sinned. I have acted iniquitously. These ones who are the sheep, what have they done? I beg you that your hand may be turned against me and against my father’s house.”

And when David saw the angel who was causing the destruction of the people, he said to the Lord, Truly, the sin is mine; I have done wrong: but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand be against me and against my family.

18 Then Gad went to David on that day, and he said, “Ascend and construct an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

And that day Gad came to David and said to him, Go up, and put up an altar to the Lord on the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

19 And David ascended in accord with the word of Gad, which the Lord had commanded to him.

So David went up, as Gad had said and as the Lord had given orders.

20 And looking out, Araunah turned his attention to the king and his servants, passing toward him.

And Araunah, looking out, saw the king and his servants coming to him: and Araunah went out, and went down on his face to the earth before the king.

21 And going out, he adored the king, lying prone with his face to the ground, and he said, “What is the reason that my lord the king has come to his servant?” And David said to him, “So as to purchase the threshing floor from you, and to build an altar to the Lord, and to quiet the plague that rages among the people.”

And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To give you a price for your grain-floor, so that I may put up an altar to the Lord, and the disease may be stopped among the people.

22 And Araunah said to David: “May my lord the king offer and accept whatever is pleasing to him. You have oxen for a holocaust, and the cart and the yokes of the oxen to use for wood.”

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take whatever seems right to him, and make an offering of it: see, here are the oxen for the burned offering, and the grain-cleaning instruments and the ox-yokes for wood:

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

All this does the servant of my lord the king give to the king. And Araunah said, May the Lord your God be pleased with your offering!

24 And in response, the king said to him: “It shall not be as you wish. Instead, I will purchase it from you at a price. For I will not offer to the Lord, my God, holocausts that cost nothing.” Therefore, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will give you a price for it; I will not give to the Lord my God burned offerings for which I have given nothing. So David got the grain-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25 And in that place, David built an altar to the Lord. And he offered holocausts and peace offerings. And the Lord was gracious to the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.

And there David put up an altar to the Lord, making burned offerings and peace-offerings. So the Lord gave ear to his prayer for the land, and the disease came to an end in Israel.