2 Samuel 24

1 Now again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah."

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

2 So the king said to Joab and the captains of the army, who were with him, "Now go back and forth through all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba and number the people, that I may know the sum of the people."

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.”

3 But Joab said to the king, "Now may the LORD your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?"

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?”

4 However, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the army. Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king, to number the children of Israel.

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;

5 They crossed over the Jordan and began from Aroer, and from the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad; then on to Jazer.

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,

6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the region of the Hethites, to Kedesh; and they came to Dan. Then they skirted Sidon,

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

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

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.

8 So when they had gone back and forth through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

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

9 Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

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.

10 David's heart struck him after that he had numbered the people. David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in that which I have done. But now, LORD, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly."

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.”

11 When David rose up in the morning, the word of the LORD came to Gad, David's seer, saying,

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

12 "Go and speak to David, 'Thus says the LORD, "I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you."'

“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.”

13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, "Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me."

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.”

14 David said to Gad, "All of them are difficult for me. Only let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great. Let me not fall into the hand of man."

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.”

15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the appointed time; and the destruction began among the people. And there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

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,

16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, "It is enough. Now stay your hand." The angel of the LORD was standing near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell down on their faces.

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.

17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, "Look, I have sinned, and I, the shepherd, have done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father's house."

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.”

18 And Gad went to David that day and said, "Go up, build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

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”;

19 So David went up and did what Gad had said, as the LORD commanded.

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

20 And Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him, so Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

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.

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

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.”

22 But Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.

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”;

23 All these Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you."

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

24 But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

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,

25 Then David built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

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.