2 Samuel 24
Revised Geneva Translation
24 And the wrath of the LORD was again kindled against Israel. And He moved David against them, in that He said: “Go! Count Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joab, the captain of the army who was with him, “Go speedily now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, so that I may know the number of the people.”
3 And Joab said to the king, “May the LORD your God increase the people a hundredfold more than they are. And may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?”
4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore, Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
5 And they passed over Jordan and camped in Aroer, at the right side of the city that is in the midst of the Valley of Gad and toward Jazer.
6 Then they came to Gilead and to Tahtim Hodshi. So, they came to Dan Jaan, and so about to Sidon,
7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites and went toward the southern part of Judah, to Beersheba.
8 So when they had gone around all the land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab delivered the number and sum of the people to the king. And there were eight hundred thousand strong men who drew swords in Israel. And the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10 Then David’s heart struck him, after he had counted the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned exceedingly in what I have done! Therefore now, LORD, I pray, take away the trespass of Your servant! For I have done very foolishly!”
11 And when David was up in the morning, the Word of the LORD came to the Prophet Gad, David’s Seer, saying:
12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things. Choose for yourself which of them I shall do to you.”’”
13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Would you rather that seven years famine come upon you in your land, or would you rather flee for three months before your enemies (they following you) or that there were three days pestilence in my land? Now be advised and consider what answer I shall give to Him Who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall now into the hand of the LORD (for His mercies are great) and let me not fall into the hand of man.”
15 So the LORD sent a pestilence in Israel, from the morning to the time appointed. And of the people from Dan to Beersheba, there died seventy thousand men.
16 And when the Angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem, to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the Angel that destroyed the people: “It is sufficient. Restrain your hand now.” And the Angel of the LORD was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 And David spoke to the LORD (when he saw the Angel that struck the people) and said, “Behold, I have sinned. Yea, I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, I pray, let Your hand be against me and against my father’s House.”
18 So the same day, Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up. Raise an Altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 And David (according to the saying of Gad) went up, as the LORD had Commanded.
20 And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. And Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king, on his face, to the ground.
21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Then David answered, “To buy your threshing floor in order to build an Altar to the LORD, so that the plague may cease from the people.”
22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer what seems good to him in his eyes. Behold the oxen for the Burnt Offering, and chariots and the instruments of the oxen for wood.”
23 (All these things Araunah gave to the king, as a king.) And Araunah said to the king, “The LORD your God be favorable to you.”
24 Then the king said to Araunah, “Not so. But I will buy it from you at a price and will not offer Burnt Offering to the LORD my God of that which cost me nothing.” So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built an Altar to the LORD there and offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings. And the LORD was appeased toward the land. And the plague ceased from Israel.
2 Samuel 24
New King James Version
David’s Census of Israel and Judah(A)
24 Again (B)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, (C)“Go, [a]number Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, (D)from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that (E)I may know the number of the people.”
3 And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God (F)add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” 4 Nevertheless the king’s word [b]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
5 And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in (G)Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward (H)Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to (I)Dan Jaan and around to (J)Sidon; 7 and they came to the stronghold of (K)Tyre and to all the cities of the (L)Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. (M)And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
The Judgment on David’s Sin(N)
10 And (O)David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So (P)David said to the Lord, (Q)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have (R)done very foolishly.”
11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet (S)Gad, David’s (T)seer, saying, 12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall (U)seven[c] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, (V)for His mercies are great; but (W)do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
15 So (X)the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 (Y)And when the [d]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, (Z)the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of [e]Araunah the Jebusite.
17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely (AA)I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”
The Altar on the Threshing Floor(AB)
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, (AC)“Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. 20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.
21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
(AD)And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that (AE)the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
22 Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. (AF)Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.”
And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God (AG)accept you.”
24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So (AH)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. (AI)So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and (AJ)the plague was withdrawn from Israel.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 24:1 take a census of
- 2 Samuel 24:4 overruled
- 2 Samuel 24:13 So with MT, Syr., Tg., Vg.; LXX three (cf. 1 Chr. 21:12)
- 2 Samuel 24:16 Or Angel
- 2 Samuel 24:16 Ornan, 1 Chr. 21:15
2 Samuel 24
EasyEnglish Bible
David counts his soldiers
24 The Lord again became angry with the Israelites. So he caused David to bring trouble to them. He said to David, ‘Send men to count the people in Israel and Judah.’
2 So the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, ‘Go from Dan to Beersheba, through all the tribes of Israel.[a] Count all the men who can fight. I want to know how many men there are.’
3 But Joab said to the king, ‘I pray that the Lord your God will make your army bigger and bigger. May it grow 100 times while you are alive to see it! But, my lord the king, why do you want to do this?’
4 But Joab and his officers had to obey the king's command. So Joab and the officers of the army went out to count the number of people in Israel.
5 They crossed the Jordan River. They made their first camp in a valley, on the south side of Aroer. Then they went through Gad's land and they reached Jazer. 6 They went from there to Gilead. Then they went to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. Then they went to Dan and they continued west to Sidon. 7 Then they went south to Tyre, a strong city with walls around it. They went to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they arrived at Beersheba in the south part of Judah.
8 In that way, they travelled through the whole country. After nine months and 20 days they returned to Jerusalem.
9 Joab reported to the king about the number of soldiers who could fight. There were 800,000 men in Israel who could use a sword to fight. There were also 500,000 soldiers in Judah.
The Lord punishes David
10 David had counted the men who were able to fight in his army. But now he was sorry that he had done it. He said to the Lord, ‘What I have done was a bad sin. Please forgive me, Lord. I have done a foolish thing.’
11 While David slept that night, the Lord gave a message to Gad, David's prophet. 12 The Lord told him, ‘Go and give my message to David: “There are three ways that I could punish you. You must choose one of them, and that is what I will do to punish you.” ’
13 So when David woke up, Gad went to him and he said, ‘You may choose to have three years when there will be a famine in the whole country. Or you may choose to have three months when your enemies are chasing after you. Or you may choose to have three days of very bad disease in the whole country. Now think carefully and decide. I will take your answer to God, who sent me with this message.’
14 David said to Gad, ‘I am very upset. I do not want men to punish me. The Lord is kind and he forgives people. So it would be better for him to punish me.’
15 So, from that morning, the Lord caused a bad disease to kill people in Israel. It continued for three days, as the Lord had said. 70,000 Israelite men died in that time, in the whole country, from Dan to Beersheba. 16 The Lord's angel was ready to destroy Jerusalem. But the Lord decided to stop the trouble that he was causing for the people. He said to the angel who was killing the people, ‘That is enough. Stop what you are doing!’ When the Lord said that, his angel was standing near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 David saw the angel who was killing the people. So he said to the Lord, ‘I am the person who has done an evil thing. These people have followed me like sheep that follow a shepherd. They have not done anything wrong. You should only punish me and my family.’
David builds an altar
18 That day, Gad went to David. He said to David, ‘Go up to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Build an altar there to worship the Lord.’ 19 So David obeyed the Lord's message that Gad had spoken to him.
20 When Araunah looked, he saw the king and his officers. They were coming towards him. So he went out and he bent down low in front of the king, with his face towards the ground.
21 Araunah said, ‘My lord the king, why have you come here to me, your servant?’
David replied, ‘I have come to buy your threshing floor from you. I want to build an altar here to worship the Lord. Then he will stop this bad disease from killing the people.’
22 Araunah said to David, ‘My lord the king, take anything that you would like to offer to the Lord. You can take these oxen to offer as sacrifices. You can use the wood from these tools and yokes to make a fire. 23 I will give all these things to you sir, my lord the king.’
Araunah also said to the king, ‘I pray that the Lord your God will accept your offerings.’
24 But the king said to Araunah, ‘No, I must pay you for it. I will not burn as an offering to the Lord my God any sacrifice that costs me nothing.’
So David bought Araunah's threshing floor and his oxen for 50 silver coins. 25 Then he built an altar there to worship the Lord. He made burnt offerings and friendship offerings on the altar.
Then the Lord answered David's prayer. The disease stopped killing people in Israel.
Footnotes
- 24:2 ‘from Dan to Beersheba’ was the whole country. Dan was at the north border of Israel. Beersheba was near the south border.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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