1And again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel , and he moved David against them , saying, Go , number Israel and Judah . 2And the king said to Joab the captain of the host , who was with him , Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel , from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people , that I may know the sum of the people . 3And Joab said unto the king , Now Jehovah thy God add unto the people , how many soever they may be , a hundredfold ; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it : but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing ? 4Notwithstanding, the king ’s word prevailed against Joab , and against the captains of the host . And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king , to number the people of Israel . 5And they passed over the Jordan , and encamped in Aroer , on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad , and unto Jazer : 6then they came to Gilead , and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi ; and they came to Dan-jaan , and round about to Sidon , 7and came to the stronghold of Tyre , and to all the cities of the Hivites , and of the Canaanites ; and they went out to the south of Judah , at Beer-sheba. 8So when they had gone to and fro through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days . 9And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto the king : and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword ; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men .
God's Judgment and David's Repentance
10And David ’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people . And David said unto Jehovah , I have sinned greatly in that which I have done : but now , O Jehovah , put away , I beseech thee , the iniquity of thy servant ; for I have done very foolishly . 11And when David rose up in the morning , the word of Jehovah came unto the prophet Gad , David ’s seer , saying , 12Go and speak unto David , Thus saith Jehovah , I offer thee three things : choose thee one of them , that I may do it unto thee . 13So Gad came to David , and told him , and said unto him , Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land ? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee ? or shall there be three days ’ pestilence in thy land ? now advise thee , and consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me . 14And David said unto Gad , I am in a great strait : let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah ; for his mercies are great ; and let me not fall into the hand of man . 15So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed ; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men . 16And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it , Jehovah repented him of the evil , and said to the angel that destroyed the people , It is enough ; now stay thy hand . And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite . 17And David spake unto Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote the people , and said, Lo , I have sinned , and I have done perversely ; but these sheep , what have they done ? let thy hand , I pray thee , be against me , and against my father’s house .
David's Altar and Sacrifice
18And Gad came that day to David , and said unto him , Go up , rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite . 19And David went up according to the saying of Gad , as Jehovah commanded . 20And Araunah looked forth , and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him : and Araunah went out , and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant ? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto Jehovah , that the plague may be stayed from the people . 22And Araunah said unto David , Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him : behold , the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood : 23all this , O king , doth Araunah give unto the king . And Araunah said unto the king , Jehovah thy God accept thee . 24And the king said unto Araunah, Nay ; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price ; neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing . So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver . 25And David built there an altar unto Jehovah , and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel .