2 Samuel, Chapter 24:
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Verses from 2 Samuel, Chapter 24 of the book of 1 Samuel in the Bible.
David orders a census
- 1. Again, the Lord was angry with Israel and incited David against the people, leading him to take a census of Israel and Judah.
- 2. Then the king said to Joab and the other army commanders, “Go through the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people so that I may know how many they are.”
- 3. But Joab asked the king: “May the Lord your God multiply the people a hundredfold, and may the eyes of my lord the king see this! But why does the king want to do this?”
- 4. However, the king's word prevailed over that of Joab and the army commanders, and they went out from the king's presence to count the people of Israel.
- 5. They crossed the Jordan and started at Aroer, south of the city, in the valley. Then they went to Gad, Jazar,
- 6. Gilead, Kadesh of the Hittites, Dan-Jahan, and the vicinity of Sidon.
- 7. From there they headed toward the fortress of Tire and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they arrived at Beersheba, in the Negev of Judah.
- 8. They traveled throughout the land and returned to Jerusalem after nine months and twenty days.
- 9. Then Joab presented the census report to the king: in Israel there were eight hundred thousand men fit for military service, and in Judah, five hundred thousand.
- 10. After counting the people, David felt remorse and said to the Lord, “I have sinned grievously! Now, Lord, I beg you to forgive the sin of your servant, for I have committed a great folly!”
- 11. The next day, in the morning, the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer:
- 12. “Go and tell David, This is what the Lord says: 'I offer you three options for punishment; choose one of them, and I will execute it against you' “.
- 13. Then Gad went to David and asked him, “Which would you prefer: three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies who will pursue you, or three days of plague in your land? Think carefully and tell me what I should answer to the one who sent me.”
- 14. David replied, “I am in great distress! I would rather fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great, than fall into the hands of men.”
- 15. Then the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time. And seventy thousand men died from Dan to Beersheba.
- 16. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord repented and said to the destroying angel, “Enough! Remove your hand!” At that moment, the angel of the Lord was standing near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- 17. When David saw the angel who was killing the people, he said to the Lord, “It is I who have sinned and committed iniquity. These sheep, what did they do? May your hand be against me and my family!”
David builds an altar
- 18. That day Gad said to David, “Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
- 19. David went, as Gad commanded, in the name of the Lord.
- 20. When Araunah saw the king and his soldiers approaching, he went out and prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground.
- 21. He asked, “Why did my lord and king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy your threshing floor and build an altar on it to the Lord, so that the plague may be stopped from among the people.”
- 22. Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever he wishes and offer it as a sacrifice. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering, and the thresher and the yoke of the oxen for the wood.
- 23. King Araunah also says: “I give all this to you.” And he adds: “May the Lord your God accept your offering.”
- 24. But the king answers Araunah: “No! I want to pay the fair price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” Then David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.
- 25. David built an altar there to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and communion sacrifices. Then the Lord answered the pleas for the land, and the plague in Israel ceased.
