2 Samuel 24

1And the Lord caused his anger to burn forth again in Israel, andSatan stirred up David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Juda. 2And the king said to Joab commander of the host, who was with him, Go now through allthe tribes of Israel and Juda, from Dan even to Bersabee, and number the people, and I will know the numberof the people. 3And Joab said to the king, Now may the Lord add to the people a hundred-fold as many asthey are, andmay the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king desire this thing? 4Nevertheless the word of the king prevailed against Joab an the captains of the host:And Joab and the captains of the host went out before the king to number the people of Israel. 5And they went over Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right of the city which is inthe midst of the valley of Gad and Eliezer. 6And they came to Galaad, and into the land of Thabason, which is Adasai, and they cameto Danidan and Udan, and compassed Sidon. 7And they came to Mapsar of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Evite and the Chananite:and they came by the South of Juda to Bersabee. 8And they compassed the whole land; and they arrived at Jerusalem at the end of nine monthsand twenty days. 9And Joab gave in the number of the census of the people to the king: and Israel consistedof eight hundred thousand men of might that drew sword; and the men of Juda, five hundred thousand fightingmen. 10And the heart of David struck him after he had numbered the people; and David said tothe Lord, I have sinned grievously, O Lord,in what I have now done: remove, I pray you, the iniquity of your servant, for I have beenexceedingly foolish. 11And David rose early in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad,the seer, saying, Go, and speak to David, saying, 12Thus says the Lord, I bringone of three things upon you: now choose you one of them, and I will doit to you. 13And Gad went in to David, and told him, and said to him, Chooseone of these things to befall you, whether there shall come upon youfor three years famine in your land; or that you should flee three months before your enemies,and they should pursue you; or that there should befor three days mortality in your land. Now then decide, and see what answer I shall returnto him that sent me. 14And David said to Gad, On every side I am much straitened: let me fall now into the handsof the Lord, for his compassionsare very many; and let me not fall into the hands of man. 15So David chose for himself the mortality: andthey were the days of wheat harvest; and the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from morningtill noon, and the plague began among the people; and there died of the people from Dan even to Bersabeeseventy thousand men. 16And the angel of the Lord stretched out his hand against Jerusalem to destroy it, andthe Lord repented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people,It is enough now, withhold your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floorof Orna the Jebusite. 17And David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel striking the people, and he said, Behold,it is I that have done wrong, but these sheep what have they done? Let your hand, I pray you, be uponme, and upon my father's house. 18And Gad came to David in that day, and said to him, Go up, and set up to the Lord andaltar in the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite. 19And David went up according to the word of Gad, as the Lord commanded him. 20And Orna looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on before him: and Ornawent forth, and did obeisance to the king with his face to the earth. 21And Orna said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? and David said, To buy ofyou the threshing floor, in order to build an altar to the Lord that the plague may be restrained fromoff the people. 22And Orna said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer to the Lord that which isgood in his eyes: behold,here are oxen for a whole burnt offering, and the wheels and furniture of the oxen for wood. 23Orna gave all to the king: and Orna said to the king, The Lord your God bless you. 24And the king said to Orna, Nay, but I will surely buy it of you at a fair price, andI will not offer to the Lord my God a whole burnt offering for nothing. So David purchased the threshing floorand the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered up whole burnt offerings andpeace-offerings: and Solomon made an addition to the altar afterwards, for it was little at first. Andthe Lord hearkened to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

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