2Samuel:24

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* Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel , and He moved David against them to say , "Go , number Israel and Judah ." * So 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 ." * And Joab said to the king , "Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are , and may the eyes of my lord the king see it . But why does my lord the king desire this thing ?" * Nevertheless 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 . * And 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 . * Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi ; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon ; * and 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 . * So when they had gone through all the land , they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days . * Then 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 . * And David 's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people . So David said to the LORD , "I have sinned greatly in what I have done ; but now , I pray , O LORD , take away the iniquity of Your servant , for I have done very foolishly ." * Now when David arose in the morning , the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad , David 's seer , saying , * "Go and tell David , "Thus says the LORD : "I offer you three things ; choose one of them for yourself , that I may do it to you .""' * So 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 ." * And David said to Gad , "I am in great distress . Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD , for His mercies are great ; but do not let me fall into the hand of man ." * So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time . From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died . * And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it , the LORD relented from the destruction , and said to the angel who was destroying the people , "It is enough ; now restrain your hand ." And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite . * Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people , and said , "Surely I have sinned , and I have done wickedly ; but these sheep , what have they done ? Let Your hand , I pray , be against me and against my father 's house ." * And Gad came that day to David and said to him , "Go up , erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite ." * So David , according to the word of Gad , went up as the LORD commanded . * Now 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 . * Then 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 , that the plague may be withdrawn from the people ." * Now 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 . * All these , O king , Araunah has given to the king ." And Araunah said to the king , "May the LORD your God accept you ." * Then 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 my God with that which costs me nothing ." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver . * And David built there an altar to the LORD , and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings . So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land , and the plague was withdrawn from Israel .

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