2Sa 24 | BSB | STEP | Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go, take a census of Israel and Judah.”

‏ 2 Samuel 24

David's Military Census

1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go, take a census of Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who [was] with him, ^{▼▼LXX to Joab and the army commanders with him} “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.” 3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over and may the eyes of my lord the king see [it] . But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” 4 Nevertheless, the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. 6 Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi ^{▼▼Hebrew; LXX to the land of the Hittites} and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 7 They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, [to] Beersheba. 8 At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem. 9 And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 valiant warriors who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000 .

Judgment for David's Sin

10 After [David] had numbered the troops, [his] conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 11 When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: 12 “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three [options] . Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” 13 So Gad went and said to David, “Shall you endure three ^{▼▼LXX (compare 1 Chronicles 21:12); Hebrew seven} years of famine on your land, or three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” 14 David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for His mercies [are] great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

A Plague on Israel

15 So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and of the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died. 16 But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, [the shepherd] , ^{▼▼DSS and LXX; MT does not include the shepherd} have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

David Builds an Altar

18 And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. 20 When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. 21 “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague on the people may be halted.” 22 Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever [seems] good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23 O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” [He] also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 “No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying 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 ^{▼▼That is, about 1.26 pounds or 570 grams} of silver. 25 And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was halted.