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1 Chronicles 21
International Children’s Bible
1 Chronicles 21
International Children’s Bible
David Counts Israel
21 Satan was against Israel. He encouraged David to count the people of Israel. 2 So David gave an order to Joab and the commanders of the troops. He said, “Go and count all the Israelites. Count everyone from Beersheba to Dan.[a] Then tell me so I will know how many people there are.”
3 But Joab answered, “May the Lord make the nation 100 times as large. My master the king, all the Israelites are your servants. Why do you want to do this, my master? You will make Israel guilty of sin.”
4 But King David made Joab follow his order. So Joab left and went through all Israel, counting the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 5 He told David how many people there were. In Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could use a sword. And there were 470,000 men in Judah who could use a sword. 6 But Joab did not count the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. He didn’t count them because he didn’t like King David’s order. 7 David had done something God had said was wrong. So God punished Israel.
8 Then David said to God, “I have done something very foolish. It was a terrible sin. Now, I beg you to forgive me, your servant.”
9 Gad was David’s seer. The Lord said to Gad, 10 “Go and tell David: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to give you three choices. Choose one, and I will punish you in that way.’”
11 So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Choose which punishment you want. 12 You may choose three years without enough food for the nation. Or choose three months of running from your enemies as they chase you with their swords. Or choose three days of punishment from the Lord. A terrible disease will spread through the country. The angel of the Lord will go through Israel destroying the people.’ Now, David, decide which answer I will give to the Lord, who sent me.”
13 David said to Gad, “I am in trouble. I don’t want some man to punish me. The Lord is very merciful. So let the Lord punish me.”
14 So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 people died. 15 God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But when the angel started to destroy it, the Lord saw it and felt sorry. So he said to the angel who was destroying, “That is enough! Stop!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord in the sky. The angel was holding his sword over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders bowed facedown on the ground. They were wearing rough cloth to show their sadness. 17 David said to God, “I am the one who sinned. I gave the order for the people to be counted. I have done wrong. These people are only sheep. What wrong have they done? Lord my God, punish me and my family. But stop the terrible disease that is killing your people.”
18 Then the angel of the Lord gave an order to Gad. He told Gad to tell David to build an altar to worship the Lord. It was to be at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 Gad told David these things from the Lord. So David went to Araunah’s threshing floor.
20 Araunah was separating the straw from the wheat. When he turned around, he saw the angel. Araunah’s four sons who were with him hid. 21 David went to Araunah. When Araunah saw David, he left the threshing floor. He bowed facedown on the ground before David.
22 David said to him, “Sell me your threshing floor. Then I can build an altar to worship the Lord here. Then the terrible disease will be stopped. Sell it to me for the full price.”
23 Araunah said to David, “Take this threshing floor. You are my master the king. Do anything you want. Look, I will also give you oxen for the burnt offering. I will give you boards as wood for the fire. And I will give the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this to you.”
24 But King David answered Araunah, “No, I must pay the full price. I won’t take anything that is yours and give it to the Lord. I won’t give an offering that costs me nothing.”
25 So David paid Araunah about 15 pounds of gold for the place. 26 David built an altar to worship the Lord there. He offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. David prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered him by sending down fire from heaven. It came down on the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the Lord commanded the angel to put his sword back into its holder.
28 David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah. So he offered sacrifices to the Lord there. 29 The Holy Tent and the altar of burnt offerings were in Gibeon. They were at the place of worship there. Moses had made the Holy Tent while the Israelites were in the desert. 30 But David could not go to the Holy Tent to speak with God. He was afraid of the angel of the Lord and his sword.
Footnotes
- 21:2 Beersheba to Dan Beersheba was the city farthest south in Israel. Dan was the city farthest north. So this means all the people of Israel.
1 Chronicles 21
New International Version
1 Chronicles 21
New International Version
David Counts the Fighting Men(A)
21 Satan(B) rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census(C) of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count(D) the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”
3 But Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over.(E) My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”
4 The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. 5 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel(F) there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.
6 But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him. 7 This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.
8 Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
9 The Lord said to Gad,(G) David’s seer,(H) 10 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’”
11 So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice: 12 three years of famine,(I) three months of being swept away[a] before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword(J) of the Lord(K)—days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
13 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy(L) is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.(M) 15 And God sent an angel(N) to destroy Jerusalem.(O) But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented(P) concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying(Q) the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah[b] the Jebusite.
16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.(R)
17 David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd,[c] have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep.(S) What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family,(T) but do not let this plague remain on your people.”
David Builds an Altar
18 Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor(U) of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord.
20 While Araunah was threshing wheat,(V) he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21 Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.
22 David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”
23 Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.”
24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
25 So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels[d] of gold for the site. 26 David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire(W) from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27 Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. 29 The tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon.(X) 30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 21:12 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate (see also 2 Samuel 24:13) of fleeing
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah; also in verses 18-28
- 1 Chronicles 21:17 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see 2 Samuel 24:17 and note); Masoretic Text does not have the shepherd.
- 1 Chronicles 21:25 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms
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