1 Chronicles 21:1-17

International Standard Version

David’s Unauthorized Census^(A)

21 Then Satan attacked Israel by inciting David to enumerate a census of Israel. ² David ordered Joab and the commanders of the army,^[a] “Go take a census of Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, and bring me a report so I can be aware of the total number.”

³ But Joab replied, “May the Lord increase the population of his people a hundredfold! Your majesty,^[b] all of them are your majesty’s servants, aren’t they? So why should your majesty demand this? Why should he bring guilt to Israel?”

⁴ But the king’s order overruled Joab, so Joab left, traveled throughout all of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem ⁵ to report the total population count to David. Throughout all of Israel there were 1,100,000 men trained for war.^[c] In Judah there were 470,000 men trained for war. ⁶ Levi and Benjamin were not included in the census, because what the king had commanded was unethical to Joab.

David Chooses His Punishment^(B)

⁷ God considered this behavior^[d] to be evil, so he attacked Israel. ⁸ David responded to God, “I sinned greatly by behaving this way. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly.”

⁹ So the Lord responded through Gad, David’s seer. ¹⁰ “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I’m holding three choices out for you: pick one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.”’”^[e]

¹¹ Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make a choice for yourself: ¹² Either three years of famine, or three months of reversals^[f] as you are swept away by your enemies while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or three days with the sword of the Lord, consisting of pestilence infecting the land, with the angel of the Lord wreaking destruction from border to border throughout all^[g] of Israel.’ Decide right now what I am to answer to the one who sent me.”

¹³ So David replied to Gad, “This is a very bad choice for me to make! Let me now please fall into the hand of the Lord, because his mercy is very great, but may I never fall into human hands!”

¹⁴ Then the Lord sent a pestilence to Israel, and 70,000 men died in Israel. ¹⁵ God also sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as he was about to do so, the Lord looked and withdrew^[h] the calamity by saying to the destroying angel, “Enough! Stop what you’re doing!”^[i]

So the angel of the Lord remained standing near the threshing floor that belonged to Ornan^[j] the Jebusite.^{[k] 16} David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.

¹⁷ David told God, “Wasn’t I the one who ordered the census of the population? Wasn’t it I who sinned and acted wickedly? Now as for these sheep, what have they done? Lord God, please let your hand be against me and my ancestral household, but don’t let your people be ravaged by plague!”