The Census Taken

24 ^(A)Now ^(B)the anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and He incited David against them to say, “^(C)Go, count Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, “Roam about now through all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “^(E)May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king can still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s order prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the presence of the king to conduct a census of the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped in ^(F)Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the Valley of Gad and toward ^(G)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to ^[a]the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to ^(H)Sidon, ⁷ then they came to the ^(I)fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(J)Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to ^(K)Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had roamed about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave ^(L)the number of the census of the people to the king: in Israel there were ^(M)eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ Now ^(N)David’s heart ^[b]troubled him after he had counted the people. So David said to the Lord, “^(O)I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, Lord, please ^[c]overlook the guilt of Your servant, for ^(P)I have acted very foolishly.” ¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(Q)Gad the prophet, David’s ^(R)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and speak to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am imposing upon you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, and I will do it to you.”’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(S)seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee for three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ of plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(T)for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

Plague Sent

¹⁵ So ^(U)the Lord ^[d]sent a plague upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people ^(V)from Dan to Beersheba died. ^16 (W)When the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(X)the Lord relented of the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now drop your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, ^(Y)it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but ^(Z)these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house!”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “^(AA)Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ^[e]Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ Then David went up in accordance with the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. ²⁰ And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; so Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. ²¹ Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, ^(AB)so that the plague may be ^[f]withdrawn from the people.” ²² Araunah then said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, here are ^(AC)the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God be ^(AD)favorable to you.” ²⁴ However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; for ^(AE)I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God ^[g]that cost me nothing.” So ^(AF)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ Then David built there an altar to the Lord, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And ^(AG)the Lord responded to prayer for the land, and the plague was ^[h]withdrawn from Israel.

Census Brings Plague

21 ^(A)Then Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count Israel. ² So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “^(B)Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me word so that I may know their number.” ³ But Joab said, “^(C)May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout Israel, and came to Jerusalem. ⁵ Then Joab gave the number of the census of the people to David. ^(D)Israel was 1,100,000 men in all who drew the sword; and Judah was 470,000 men who drew the sword. ^6 (E)But he did not ^[a]count Levi and Benjamin among them, because the king’s ^[b]command was abhorrent to Joab.

⁷ Now ^[c]God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel. ⁸ David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, ^[d]by doing this thing. ^(F)But now, please overlook Your servant’s guilt, for I have behaved very foolishly.”

⁹ The Lord spoke to ^(G)Gad, David’s ^(H)seer, saying, ¹⁰ “Go and speak to David, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I extend to you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” ¹¹ So Gad came to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take for yourself ^12 (I)three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord: a plague in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall bring back to Him who sent me.” ¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(J)for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into human hands.”

^14 (K)So the Lord ^[e]sent a plague on Israel; seventy thousand men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and ^(L)was sorry about the catastrophe, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of ^[f]Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶ Then David raised his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, ^(M)covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. ¹⁷ And David said to God, “Is it not I who ^[g]commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly, ^(N)but these sheep, what have they done? Lord, my God, just let Your hand be against me and my father’s household, and not against Your people as a plague.”

David’s Altar

^18 (O)Then the angel of the Lord ^[h]commanded Gad to say to David, that David was to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord. ²⁰ Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat. ²¹ As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out from the threshing floor and prostrated himself to David with his face to the ground. ²² Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the ^[i]site of this threshing floor, so that I may build on it an altar to the Lord; you shall give it to me for the full price, so that the plague may be brought to a halt from the people.” ²³ But Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself, and may my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I am giving the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I am giving it all.” ²⁴ Nevertheless, King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will certainly buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer a burnt offering ^[j]which costs me nothing.” ²⁵ So ^(P)David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the ^[k]site. ²⁶ Then David built an altar there to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the Lord, and ^(Q)He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ The Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.

²⁸ At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifice there. ^29 (R)For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were on the high place at Gibeon at that time. ³⁰ But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.

Abraham’s Justification by Faith

4 What then shall we say that Abraham, ^[a]our forefather ^(A)according to the flesh, has found? ² For if Abraham was justified ^[b]by works, he has something to boast about; but ^(B)not ^[c]before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “^(C)Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now to the one who ^(D)works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but ^(E)believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then on ^[d](I)the circumcised, or on ^[e]the uncircumcised also? For ^(J)we say, “^(K)Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹⁰ How then was it credited? While he was ^[f]circumcised, or ^[g]uncircumcised? Not while ^[h]circumcised, but while ^[i]uncircumcised; ¹¹ and he ^(L)received the sign of circumcision, ^(M)a seal of the righteousness of the faith which ^[j]he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be ^(N)the father of ^(O)all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, ¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which ^[k]he had while uncircumcised.

¹³ For ^(P)the promise to Abraham or to his ^[l]descendants ^(Q)that he would be heir of the world was not ^[m]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(R)if those who are ^[n]of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; ¹⁵ for ^(S)the Law brings about wrath, but ^(T)where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶ For this reason it is ^[o]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with ^(U)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ^(V)all the ^[p]descendants, not only to ^[q]those who are of the Law, but also to ^[r](W)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is ^(X)the father of us all, ¹⁷ (as it is written: “I have made you ^(Y)a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, ^(Z)who gives life to the dead and ^(AA)calls into being ^(AB)things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become ^(AC)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “^(AD)So shall your ^[s]descendants be.” ¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now ^(AE)as good as dead since ^(AF)he was about a hundred years old, and ^(AG)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, ^(AH)giving glory to God, ²¹ and ^(AI)being fully assured that ^(AJ)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ²² Therefore ^(AK)it was also credited to him as righteousness. ²³ Now ^(AL)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, ²⁴ but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us ^(AM)who believe in Him who ^(AN)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ He who was ^(AO)delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was ^(AP)raised because of our justification.