2 Samuel 24

David Orders a Census

1Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.” 2The king said to Joab, commander of the army who was with him, “Go 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.” 3But Joab said to the king, “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 see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4Yet the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel.

Joab Counts Israel and Judah

5They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the wadi, toward Gad and toward Jazer. 6They came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-Hodshi. They came to Dan-Jaan and around to Sidon. 7They came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, and they went out to the Negev of Judah at Beersheba. 8They went throughout all the land and came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9Joab gave the number of the census of the people to the king: Israel was eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

David’s Heart Strikes Him

10David’s heart struck him after he had counted the people. David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. And now, O LORD, please cause the guilt of your servant to pass away, for I have acted very foolishly.”

Gad Gives David Three Choices

11When David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12“Go and speak to David: Thus says the LORD: Three things I am laying before you. Choose for yourself one of them, and I will do it to you.” 13So Gad came to David and told him and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come upon you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your adversaries while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now know and see what word I shall return to the one who sent me.” 14David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his compassion is great, but let me not fall into the hand of humanity.”

Plague Falls upon Israel

15So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men from the people died, from Dan to Beersheba. 16When the messenger stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented concerning the disaster and said to the messenger who was destroying among the people, “Enough! Now relax your hand.” And the messenger of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17David spoke to the LORD when he saw the messenger who was striking the people and said, “Look, I am the one who sinned, and I am the one who acted perversely. But these sheep—what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

Gad Tells David to Build an Altar

18Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19So David went up according to the word of Gad, as the LORD commanded.

Araunah Offers the Threshing Floor

20Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him. Araunah went out and bowed down to the king with his face to the ground. 21Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague may be restrained from the people.” 22Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his eyes. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the equipment of the oxen for the wood. 23All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

David Buys the Threshing Floor and Offers Sacrifice

24But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being. Then the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was restrained from Israel.