2Samuel:24

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* Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel , and he incited David against them , saying , "Go , number Israel and Judah ." * So the king said to Jo 'ab and the commanders of the army , who were with him , "Go through all the tribes of Israel , from Dan to Beer-sheba , and number the people , that I may know the number of the people ." * But Jo 'ab said to the king , "May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are , while the eyes of my lord the king still see it ; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing ?" * But the king 's word prevailed against Jo 'ab and the commanders of the army . So Jo 'ab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel . * They crossed the Jordan , and began from Aro 'er , and from the city that is in the middle of the valley , toward Gad and on to Jazer . * Then they came to Gilead , and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites ; and they came to Dan , and from Dan they went around to Sidon , * and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites ; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beer-sheba . * So when they had gone through all the land , they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days . * And Jo 'ab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king : in Israel there were eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword , and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand . * But David 's heart smote him after he had numbered the people . And David said to the LORD , "I have sinned greatly in what I have done . But now , O LORD , I pray thee , take away the iniquity of thy servant ; for I have done very foolishly ." * And when David arose in the morning , the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad , David 's seer , saying , * "Go and say to David , `Thus says the LORD , Three things I offer you ; choose one of them , that I may do it to you ." * So Gad came to David and told him , and said to him , "Shall three years of famine come to you in your land ? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you ? Or shall there be three days ' pestilence in your land ? Now consider , and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me ." * Then David said to Gad , "I am in great distress ; let us fall into the hand of the LORD , for his mercy is great ; but let me not fall into the hand of man ." * So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time ; and there died of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men . * And when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it , the LORD repented of the evil , and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people , "It is enough ; now stay your hand ." And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Arau 'nah the Jeb 'usite . * Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was smiting the people , and said , "Lo , I have sinned , and I have done wickedly ; but these sheep , what have they done ? Let thy hand , I pray thee , be against me and against my father 's house ." * And Gad came that day to David , and said to him , "Go up , rear an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Arau 'nah the Jeb 'usite ." * So David went up at Gad 's word , as the LORD commanded . * And when Arau 'nah looked down , he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him ; and Arau 'nah went forth , and did obeisance to the king with his face to the ground . * And Arau 'nah said , "Why has my lord the king come to his servant ?" David said , "To buy the threshing floor of you , in order to build an altar to the LORD , that the plague may be averted from the people ." * Then Arau 'nah said to David , "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him ; here are the oxen for the burnt offering , and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood . * All this , O king , Arau 'nah gives to the king ." And Arau 'nah said to the king , "The LORD your God accept you ." * But the king said to Arau 'nah , "No , but I will buy it of you for a price ; I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost 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 supplications for the land , and the plague was averted from Israel .

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