| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number 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 army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may 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." |
| 3But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for 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?" |
| 4But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. | 4The king's word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. |
| 5And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword. | 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 numbering, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab. | 6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive to him. |
| 7But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. | 7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel. |
| 8And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” | 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." |
| 9And the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, | 9The LORD said to Gad, David's seer, |
| 10“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may 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 came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will: | 11So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Take your choice: |
| 12either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him 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." |
| 13Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” | 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 pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. | 14So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. |
| 15And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was standing by 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. |
| 16And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. | 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. |
| 17And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on 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." |
| 18Now the angel of the LORD had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise 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. |
| 19So David went up at Gad’s word, which he had 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. |
| 20Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. | 20While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. |
| 21As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage 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. |
| 22And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the LORD—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” | 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." |
| 23Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a 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." |
| 24But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor 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 paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. | 25So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. |
| 26And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon 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 commanded 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, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. | 28At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. |
| 29For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at 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, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. | 30But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | 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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