2 Samuel 24

¹ AndBefore they were plagued with famine, (2Sa_21:1).again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, andThe Lord permitted Satan, as in (1Ch_21:2).he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

² For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which [was] with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know theBecause he did this to determine his power and to trust in it, it offended God, for otherwise it was lawful to number the people, (Exo_30:12; Num_1:2).number of the people.

³ And Ioab saide vnto the King, The Lorde thy God increase the people an hundreth folde mo then they be, and that the eyes of my lorde the King may see it: but why doeth my lord the King desire this thing?

⁴ Notwithstanding the Kings worde preuailed against Ioab and against the captaines of the hoste: therefore Ioab and the captaines of the hoste went out from the presence of the King to nomber the people of Israel.

⁵ And they passed ouer Iorden, & pitched in Aroer at the right side of the citie that is in the middes of the valley of Gad and toward Iazer.

⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to Tahtim-hodshi, so they came to Dan Iaan, and so about to Zidon,

⁷ And came to the fortresse of Tyrus and to all the cities of the Hiuites and of the Canaanites, and went towarde the South of Iudah, euen to Beer-sheba.

⁸ So when they had gone about all the lande, they returned to Ierusalem at the ende of nine moneths and twentie dayes.

⁹ And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in IsraelAccording to Joab's count: for in all there were eleven hundred thousand, (1Ch_21:5).eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah [were]Including the Benjamites with them, or else they had but four hundred and seventy thousand.five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ Then Dauids heart smote him, after that he had numbred the people: and Dauid said vnto the Lorde, I haue sinned exceedingly in that I haue done: therefore nowe, Lorde, I beseech thee, take away the trespasse of thy seruant: for I haue done very foolishly.

¹¹ For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David'sWhom God had appointed for David and his time.seer, saying,

¹² Go, & say vnto Dauid, Thus saith ye Lord, I offer thee three thinges, chuse thee which of them I shall doe vnto thee.

¹³ So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, ShallThree years of famine were past for the Gibeonites and this was the fourth year to which should have been added another three more years, (1Ch_21:12).seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

¹⁴ And Dauid said vnto Gad, I am in a wonderfull strait: let vs fall nowe into the hand of the Lord, (for his mercies are great) and let mee not fall into the hand of man.

¹⁵ So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people fromFrom the one side of the country to the other.Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough:The Lord spared this place, because he had chosen it to build his temple there.stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have theyDavid did not see the just cause why God plagued the people, and therefore he offers himself for God's correction as the only cause of this evil.done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

¹⁸ So Gad came the same day to Dauid, and said vnto him, Go vp, reare an altar vnto the Lord in the threshing floore of Araunah the Iebusite.

¹⁹ And Dauid (according to the saying of Gad) went vp, as the Lord had commanded.

²⁰ And Araunah looked, and sawe the King and his seruants comming towarde him, and Araunah went out, and bowed himselfe before the King on his face to the ground,

²¹ AndCalled also Ornan (1Ch_21:20).Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

²² Then Araunah saide vnto Dauid, Let my lord the King take and offer what seemeth him good in his eyes: beholde the oxen for the burnt offring, and charets, and the instruments of the oxen for wood.

²³ All these [things] did Araunah,That is, abundantly, for as some write, he was king of Jerusalem before David won the tower.[as] a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.

²⁴ And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy [it] of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen forSome write that every tribe gave 50 which makes 600, or that afterward he bought as much as came to 550 shekels.fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵ And Dauid built there an altar vnto the Lorde, and offred burnt offrings and peace offrings, and the Lord was appeased toward ye lande, and the plague ceased from Israel.