2 Samuel 24

¹Again the anger of the Lord

²So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”

³And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord

⁴Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

⁵And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer.

⁶Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon;

⁷and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba.

⁸So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord

¹¹Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord

¹²“Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord

¹³So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord

¹⁵So the Lord

¹⁶And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord

¹⁷Then David spoke to the Lord

¹⁸And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord

¹⁹So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord

²⁰Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord

²²Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood.

²³All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord

²⁴Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord

²⁵And David built there an altar to the Lord