2 Samuel 24

1 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.”

And the Lord caused his anger to burn forth again in Israel, and [Satan] stirred up David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Juda.

2 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].”

And the king said to Joab commander of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel and Juda, from Dan even to Bersabee, and number the people, and I will know the number of the people.

3 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?”

And Joab said to the king, Now may the Lord add to the people a hundred-fold as many as they are, and [may] the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king desire this thing?

4 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.

Nevertheless the word of the king prevailed against Joab an the captains of the host: And Joab and the captains of the host went out before the king to number the people of Israel.

5 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]

And they went over Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right of the city which is in the midst of the valley of Gad and Eliezer.

6 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].

And they came to Galaad, and into the land of Thabason, which is Adasai, and they came to Danidan and Udan, and compassed Sidon.

7 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.

And they came to Mapsar of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Evite and the Chananite: and they came by the South of Juda to Bersabee.

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

And they compassed the whole land; and they arrived at Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

9 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].

And Joab gave in the number of the census of the people to the king: and Israel consisted of eight hundred thousand men of might that drew sword; and the men of Juda, five hundred thousand fighting men.

10 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.”

And the heart of David struck him after he had numbered the people; and David said to the Lord, I have sinned grievously, O Lord, [in] what I have now done: remove, I pray you, the iniquity of your servant, for I have been exceedingly foolish.

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

And David rose early in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, the seer, saying, Go, and speak to David, saying,

12 “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.’”

Thus says the Lord, I bring [one of] three things upon you: now choose you one of them, and I will do [it] to you.

13 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.”

And Gad went in to David, and told him, and said to him, Choose [one of these things] to befall you, whether there shall come upon you [for] three years famine in your land; or that you should flee three months before your enemies, and they should pursue you; or that there should be [for] three days mortality in your land. Now then decide, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

14 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].”

And David said to Gad, On every side I am much straitened: let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, for his compassions [are] very many; and let me not fall into the hands of man.

15 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].

So David chose for himself the mortality: and [they were] the days of wheat harvest; and the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from morning till noon, and the plague began among the people; and there died of the people from Dan even to Bersabee seventy thousand men.

16 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.

And the angel of the Lord stretched out his hand against Jerusalem to destroy it, and the Lord repented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, [It is] enough now, withhold your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite.

17 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]!”

And David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel striking the people, and he said, Behold, it is I that have done wrong, but these sheep what have they done? Let your hand, I pray you, be upon me, and upon my father's house.

18 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.”

And Gad came to David in that day, and said to him, Go up, and set up to the Lord and altar in the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite.

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

And David went up according to the word of Gad, as the Lord commanded him.

20 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.

And Orna looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on before him: and Orna went forth, and did obeisance to the king with his face to the earth.

21 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.”

And Orna said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? and David said, To buy of you the threshing floor, in order to build an altar to the Lord that the plague may be restrained from off the people.

22 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.

And Orna said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer to the Lord that which is good in his eyes: behold, [here are] oxen for a whole burnt offering, and the wheels and furniture of the oxen for wood.

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

Orna gave all to the king: and Orna said to the king, The Lord your God bless you.

24 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.

And the king said to Orna, Nay, but I will surely buy it of you at a fair price, and I will not offer to the Lord my God a whole burnt offering for nothing. So David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25 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.

And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered up whole burnt offerings and peace-offerings: and Solomon made an addition to the altar afterwards, for it was little at first. And the Lord listened to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.