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1 Chronicles 21
Names of God Bible
1 Chronicles 21
Names of God Bible
David Counts the People(A)
21 Satan attempted to attack Israel by provoking David to count the Israelites. 2 David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan. Bring me the results so that I may know how many people there are.”
3 Joab responded, “May Yahweh multiply his people a hundred times over. But, Your Majesty, aren’t they all your servants? Why are you trying to do this? Why do you wish to make Israel guilty of this sin?”
4 However, the king overruled Joab. So Joab left, went throughout Israel, and returned to Jerusalem. 5 Joab reported the census figures to David: In Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could serve in the army, and in Judah there were 470,000 who could serve in the army. 6 Joab didn’t include Levi and Benjamin in the number because he was disgusted with the king’s order.
7 Elohim considered the census to be sinful, so he struck Israel with a plague.
8 David said to Elohim, “I have committed a terrible sin by doing this thing. Forgive me because I have acted very foolishly.”
9 Yahweh spoke to Gad, David’s seer.[a] 10 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I’m offering you three choices. Choose the one you want me to do to you.’”
11 When Gad came to David, he said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Take your pick: 12 either three years of famine, or three months during which your enemies will chase you away when their swords catch up to you, or three days of Yahweh’s sword—a plague in the land with the Messenger of Yahweh destroying the whole country of Israel.’ Decide what answer I should give the one who sent me.”
13 “I’m in a desperate situation,” David told Gad. “Please let me fall into Yahweh’s hands because he is extremely merciful. But don’t let me fall into human hands.”
14 So Yahweh sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 Israelites died. 15 Elohim also sent a Messenger to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was destroying it, Yahweh reconsidered and changed his mind about the disaster. “Enough!” he said to the destroying Messenger. “Put down your weapon.” The Messenger of Yahweh was standing by the threshing floor[b] of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 When David looked up, he saw the Messenger of Yahweh standing between heaven and earth. The Messenger had a sword in his hand and stretched it over Jerusalem. David and the leaders were dressed in sackcloth. They bowed down with their faces touching the ground. 17 David said to Elohim, “I’m the one who ordered the people to be counted. I am the one who sinned and did wrong. What have these sheep done? Yahweh my Elohim, let your punishment be against me and my father’s family, but don’t punish your people with a plague.”
18 Yahweh’s Messenger told Gad to tell David to go and set up an altar for Yahweh at Ornan the Jebusite’s threshing floor. 19 David went as Gad had told him in Yahweh’s name.
20 Now, Ornan had turned around and seen the Messenger. Ornan’s four sons who were with him hid, but Ornan kept on threshing the wheat.
21 When David arrived, Ornan looked up and saw him. So he left the threshing floor and bowed down with his face touching the ground in front of David. 22 David said to Ornan, “Let me have the land this threshing floor is on. I’ll build an altar for Yahweh on it. Sell it to me for the full price. Then the plague on the people will stop.”
23 Ornan said to David, “Take it, Your Majesty, and do whatever you think is right. I’ll give you oxen for the burnt offering, threshers[c] for firewood, and wheat for the grain offering. I’ll give you everything.”
24 “No,” King David told Ornan, “I insist on buying it for the full price. I won’t take what is yours for Yahweh and offer burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing.” 25 So David gave Ornan 15 pounds of gold for that place.
26 David built an altar for Yahweh there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on Yahweh, and Yahweh answered him by sending fire from heaven on the altar for burnt offerings. 27 So Yahweh spoke to the Messenger, and he put his sword back in its scabbard.
28 At that time, when David saw Yahweh had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. 29 Yahweh’s tent that Moses made in the desert and the altar for burnt offerings were at the worship site at Gibeon. 30 However, David couldn’t go there to consult Elohim because he was frightened by the sword of Yahweh’s Messenger.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 21:9 A seer is a prophet.
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.
- 1 Chronicles 21:23 Threshers are devices used to separate grain from its husks.
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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