| Christian Standard Bible | New International Version |
| 1Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to count the people of Israel. | 1Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. |
| 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number." | 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are." |
| 3Joab replied, "May the LORD multiply the number of his people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?" | 3But Joab replied, "May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?" |
| 4Yet the king's order prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel and then returned to Jerusalem. | 4The king's word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. |
| 5Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand armed men and in Judah itself four hundred seventy thousand armed men. | 5Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. |
| 6But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king's command was detestable to him. | 6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive to him. |
| 7This command was also evil in God's sight, so he afflicted Israel. | 7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel. |
| 8David said to God, "I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now, please take away your servant's guilt, for I've been very foolish." | 8Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing." |
| 9Then the LORD instructed Gad, David's seer, | 9The LORD said to Gad, David's seer, |
| 10"Go and say to David, 'This is what the LORD says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.'" | 10"Go and tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.'" |
| 11So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Take your choice: | 11So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Take your choice: |
| 12three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes with the sword of your enemy overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the LORD--a plague on the land, the angel of the LORD bringing destruction to the whole territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I should take back to the one who sent me." | 12three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the LORD--days of plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.' Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me." |
| 13David answered Gad, "I'm in anguish. Please, let me fall into the LORD's hands because his mercies are very great, but don't let me fall into human hands." | 13David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands." |
| 14So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand Israelite men died. | 14So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. |
| 15Then God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but when the angel was about to destroy the city, the LORD looked, relented concerning the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough, withdraw your hand now!" The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. | 15And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. |
| 16When David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. | 16David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. |
| 17David said to God, "Wasn't I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? LORD my God, please let your hand be against me and against my father's family, but don't let the plague be against your people." | 17David said to God, "Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? LORD my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people." |
| 18So the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go and set up an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. | 18Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. |
| 19David went up at Gad's command spoken in the name of the LORD. | 19So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD. |
| 20Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel. His four sons, who were with him, hid. | 20While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. |
| 21David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground. | 21Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground. |
| 22Then David said to Ornan, "Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the LORD on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped." | 22David said to him, "Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price." |
| 23Ornan said to David, "Take it! My lord the king may do whatever he wants. See, I give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering--I give it all." | 23Araunah said to David, "Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this." |
| 24King David answered Ornan, "No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing." | 24But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing." |
| 25So David gave Ornan fifteen pounds of gold for the plot. | 25So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. |
| 26He built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and he answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. | 26David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. |
| 27Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. | 27Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. |
| 28At that time, David offered sacrifices there when he saw that the LORD answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. | 28At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. |
| 29The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at the high place in Gibeon, | 29The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. |
| 30but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified of the sword of the LORD's angel. | 30But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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