^53 (A)But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be ^(B)no divine wrath against the congregation of the sons of Israel. ^(C)So the Levites shall be responsible for service to the tabernacle of the testimony.”

²² But they fell on their faces and said, “God, ^(A)the God of the spirits of ^[a]humanity, ^(B)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(A)make atonement for them, for ^(B)wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!”

⁵ So you shall perform the ^(A)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(B)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

Israel Is Defeated at Ai

7 ^(A)But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things designated for destruction, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the designated things; therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.

¹⁸ that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, ^(A)He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel tomorrow.

²⁰ Did ^(A)Achan the son of Zerah not act unfaithfully in the things designated for destruction, and wrath fall on the entire congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his guilt.’”

The Census Taken

24 ^(A)Now ^(B)the anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and He incited David against them to say, “^(C)Go, count Israel and Judah.”