2Sa 24:1-15, 1Ch 21:1-17 | ESV | STEP | , Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel , and he incited David against them, saying , Go , number Israel and Judah .

2 Samuel 24:1-15

David’s Census

1 ^a, ^bAgain the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ^c“Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, ^{▼▼Septuagint to Joab and the commanders of the army} who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, ^efrom Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, ^f“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 still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and began from ^gAroer, ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew encamped in Aroer} and from the city that is in the middle of the ⁱvalley, toward Gad and on to ^jJazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew to the land of Tahtim-hodshi} and they came to Dan, and from Dan ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew they came to Dan-jaan and} they went around to ^mSidon, 7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ⁿHivites and ^oCanaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at 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 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men ^pwho drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord’s Judgment of David’s Sin

10 But ^qDavid’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ^r“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done ^svery foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^tthe prophet Gad, David’s ^useer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer ^{▼▼Or hold over} you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^wthree ^{▼▼Compare 1 Chronicles 21:12, Septuagint; Hebrew seven} years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^yfor his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

15 ^zSo the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from ^aaDan to Beersheba 70,000 men.

1 Chronicles 21:1-17

David’s Census Brings Pestilence

1 ^abThen ^acSatan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” 3 But Joab said, “May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were ^ad1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah ^ae470,000 who drew the sword. 6 ^afBut he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.

7 But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please ^agtake away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s ^ahseer, saying, 10 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either ^aithree years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he ^ajrelented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, ^akclothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”