2 Samuel 24

1 And the anger of YHWH adds to burn against Israel, and [an adversary] moves David about them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

Yahweh was angry with the Israeli people again, so he incited David to cause trouble for them. He said to David, “Send [some men] to count the people of Israel and Judah.”

2 And the king says to Joab, head of the host that [is] with him, “Now go to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, and inspect the people; then I have known the number of the people.”

So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go [with your officers] through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan [city in the far north] to Beersheba [town in the far south], and count the people, in order that I may know how many people [there are who are able to be soldiers in the army].”

3 And Joab says to the king, “Indeed, your God YHWH adds to the people, as they are, one hundred times, and the eyes of my lord the king are seeing; and my lord the king, why is he desirous of this thing?”

But Joab replied to the king, “Your Majesty, I wish/desire that Yahweh our God will cause there to be 100 times as many people [in Israel] as there are now, and I wish/desire that you would see that happen [before you die]. But why do you want us to do this?”

4 And the word of the king is severe toward Joab, and against the heads of the force, and Joab goes out, and the heads of the force, [from] before the king to inspect the people, even Israel;

But the king commanded Joab and his officers to do it. So they left the king and went out to count the people of Israel.

5 and they pass over the Jordan, and encamp in Aroer, on the right of the city that [is] in the midst of the Brook of Gad, and to Jazer,

They crossed the Jordan [River] and set up their tents south of Aroer [town], in the middle of the valley, in the territory [that was given to the tribe] of Gad. From there they went [north] to Jazer [city]

6 and they come to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-Hodshi, and they come to Dan-Jaan, and around to Sidon,

Then they went [north] to [the] Gilead [region] and to Kadesh [city], in the land where the Heth people-group lived. Then they went to Dan [city in the far north of Israel], and then further west, to Sidon [city near the Mediterranean Sea].

7 and they come to the fortress of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivite, and of the Canaanite, and go out to the south of Judah, to Beer-Sheba.

Then they went [south] to Tyre, a city with high walls around it, and to all the cities where the Hiv and Canaan people-groups live. Then they went [east] to Beersheba, in the southern part of Judah.

8 And they go to and fro through all the land, and come in to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days,

After nine months and 20 days, when they had finished going throughout the land [and counting the people], they returned to Jerusalem.

9 and Joab gives the account of the inspection of the people to the king, and Israel is eight hundred thousand men of valor, drawing sword, and the men of Judah five hundred thousand men.

They reported to the king the number of people that they had counted. There were 800,000 men in Israel and 500,000 men in Judah who were able to become soldiers in the army [MTY].

10 And the heart of David strikes him, after that he has numbered the people, and David says to YHWH, “I have greatly sinned in that which I have done, and now, O YHWH, please cause the iniquity of Your servant to pass away, for I have acted very foolishly.”

But after David’s men had counted the people, David regretted [IDM] that he had told them to do that. [One night] he said to Yahweh, “I have committed a very big sin. Please forgive me, because what I have done is very foolish.”

11 And David rises in the morning, and the word of YHWH has been to Gad the prophet, seer of David, saying,

When David got up the next morning, Yahweh gave a message to the prophet Gad. He said to him,

12 “Go, and you have spoken to David, Thus said YHWH: I am lifting up three [choices] for you, choose one of them, and I do [it] to you.”

“Go and tell this to David: ‘I am allowing you to choose one of three things [to punish you]. I will do whichever one you choose.’”

13 And Gad comes to David, and declares [it] to him, and says to him, “Does seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or are you fleeing before your adversary [for] three months—and he is pursuing you? Or is there pestilence [for] three days in your land? Now, know and see what word I take back to Him sending me.”

So Gad went to David and told him [what Yahweh had said]. He said to David, “You can choose whether there will be three years of famine in your land, or three months of your [army] running away from your enemies, or three days when there will be a (plague/very severe illness) in your land. You think about it and choose [which one you want, and tell me], and I will return to Yahweh and tell him what your answer is.”

14 And David says to Gad, “I have great distress; please let us fall into the hand of YHWH, for His mercies [are] many, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

David said to Gad, “All those are very terrible things for me to choose between! But allow Yahweh to punish [MTY] me, because he is very merciful. Do not allow humans to punish me, [because they will not be merciful].”

15 And YHWH gives a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the time appointed, and there dies of the people, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, seventy thousand men,

So Yahweh sent a plague on the Israeli people. It started that morning and did not stop until the time that he had chosen/set. All over the land, from Dan to Beersheba, there were 70,000 Israelis who died [because of the plague].

16 and the messenger puts forth his hand to Jerusalem to destroy it, and YHWH sighs concerning the calamity, and says to the messenger who is destroying among the people, “Enough, now, cease your hand”; and the messenger of YHWH was near the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

When [Yahweh’s] angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy [the people by this plague], Yahweh changed his mind about punishing [any more] people. He said to the angel who was killing them [with the plague], “Stop what you are doing [IDM]! That is enough!” [When he said that, ] the angel was standing at the ground where Araunah, from the Jebus people-group, threshed grain.

17 And David speaks to YHWH when he sees the messenger who is striking among the people, and says, “Behold, I have sinned, indeed, I have done perversely; and these—the flock—what have they done? Please let Your hand be on me and on the house of my father.”

When David saw the angel who was causing the people to become sick and die, he said to Yahweh, “Truly, I am the one who has committed the sin. I have done a very wicked thing, but these people are [as innocent as] sheep [MET]. They have certainly not [RHQ] done anything [that is wrong]. So you should punish [IDM] me and my family, [not these people]!”

18 And Gad comes to David on that day and says to him, “Go up, raise an altar to YHWH in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite”;

That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up to the place where Araunah threshes grain, and build an altar to [worship] Yahweh there.”

19 and David goes up, according to the word of Gad, as YHWH commanded.

So David did what Gad told him to do, which was what Yahweh had commanded, [and he went up there].

20 And Araunah looks, and sees the king and his servants passing over to him, and Araunah goes out and bows himself to the king [with] his face to the earth.

When Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he prostrated himself on the ground in front of the king, with his face touching the ground.

21 And Araunah says, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David says, “To buy the threshing-floor from you, to build an altar to YHWH, and the plague is restrained from the people.”

Araunah said, “Your Majesty, why have you come to me?” David replied, “[I have come] to buy this ground where you thresh grain, in order to build an altar to Yahweh [and offer sacrifices on it], in order that he will stop the plague.”

22 And Araunah says to David, “Let my lord the king take [it] and cause that which is good in his eyes to ascend; see, [here are] the oxen for a burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments, and the instruments of the oxen, for wood”;

Araunah replied to David, “Your Majesty, offer to Yahweh whatever you wish/want. Here, take my oxen to use for the offering that will be completely burned on the altar. And here, take their yokes and the boards [that I use] for the threshing, [and use them] for the wood that you will burn.

23 Araunah has given the whole [as] a king to a king; and Araunah says to the king, “Your God YHWH accepts you.”

I, Araunah, am giving all this to you, the king.” Then he said, “I desire/hope that Yahweh our God will accept your offering.”

24 And the king says to Araunah, “No, for I surely buy from you for a price, and I do not cause burnt-offerings to ascend to my God YHWH for nothing”; and David buys the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver,

But the king said to Araunah, “No, [I will not take these things as a gift.] I will pay you for it. I will not take sacrifices that have cost me nothing, and offer them to Yahweh to be completely burned on the altar.” So he paid 50 pieces of silver to Araunah for the oxen and the ground.

25 and David builds an altar to YHWH there, and causes burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to ascend, and YHWH accepts the plea for the land, and the plague is restrained from Israel.

Then David built an altar to Yahweh, and he offered [the oxen] to be completely burned on the altar, and he also offered sacrifices to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then, Yahweh answered David’s prayers, and he caused the plague in Israel to end.