| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel. | 1Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. |
| 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the people of Israel—from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north—and bring me a report so I may know how many there are.” | 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.” |
| 3But Joab replied, “May the LORD increase the number of his people a hundred times over! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?” | 3But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?” |
| 4But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab traveled throughout all Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem | 4Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and traveled throughout Israel, and then he returned to Jerusalem. |
| 5and reported the number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 warriors in all Israel who could handle a sword, and 470,000 in Judah. | 5And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah. |
| 6But Joab did not include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do. Judgment for David’s Sin | 6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him. |
| 7God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it. | 7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel. |
| 8Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.” | 8Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” |
| 9Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message: | 9And the LORD instructed Gad, David’s seer, |
| 10“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’” | 10“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.’ ” |
| 11So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the LORD has given you. | 11So Gad went and said to David, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You must choose |
| 12You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the LORD brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me.” | 12between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” |
| 13“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” | 13David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” |
| 14So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result. | 14So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. |
| 15And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. | 15Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. |
| 16David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. | 16When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. |
| 17And David said to God, “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.” David Builds an Altar | 17And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.” |
| 18Then the angel of the LORD told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. | 18Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. |
| 19So David went up to do what the LORD had commanded him through Gad. | 19So David went up at the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD. |
| 20Araunah, who was busy threshing wheat at the time, turned and saw the angel there. His four sons, who were with him, ran away and hid. | 20Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. |
| 21When Araunah saw David approaching, he left his threshing floor and bowed before David with his face to the ground. | 21David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before David. |
| 22David said to Araunah, “Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the LORD there, so that he will stop the plague.” | 22Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” |
| 23“Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, and the threshing boards for wood to build a fire on the altar, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.” | 23Ornan said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I will give it all.” |
| 24But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” | 24“No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” |
| 25So David gave Araunah 600 pieces of gold in payment for the threshing floor. | 25So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site. |
| 26David built an altar there to the LORD and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the LORD answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar. | 26And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. |
| 27Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath. | 27Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath. |
| 28When David saw that the LORD had answered his prayer, he offered sacrifices there at Araunah’s threshing floor. | 28At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. |
| 29At that time the Tabernacle of the LORD and the altar of burnt offering that Moses had made in the wilderness were located at the place of worship in Gibeon. | 29For the tabernacle of the LORD that Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Gibeon, |
| 30But David was not able to go there to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of the LORD. | 30but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. |
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