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¹ And agayne the Lorde was wroth against Israel, and he moued Dauid agaynst them, in that he sayde: Go number Israel & Iuda.² For the king sayde to Ioab the captaine of the hoast which was with him: Go thou abrode now throughout al the tribes of Israel, euen from Dan to Beerseba, and number ye the people, that I may knowe the number of them.³ And Ioab saide vnto the king: The Lorde thy God encrease the people an hundreth folde mo then they be, & that the eyes of my lorde the king may see it: And what is the cause that my lorde the king hath a lust to this thyng?⁴ Notwithstanding, the kinges word preuayled agaynst Ioab & against the captaines of the hoast: And Ioab & the captaynes of the hoast, went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.⁵ And they passed ouer Iordane, & pitched in Aroer on the right syde of the citie that lyeth in the myddest of the valey of Gad, and toward Iazer.⁶ And then they came to Gilead, and to the land Tahtim hodshi, & from thece they came to Dan Iaan, and about to Sidon.⁷ And came to the strong hould of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Heuites and of the Chanaanites: & then went out to the south of Iuda, euen to Beerseba.⁸ And so when they had ben abrode throughout all the land, they returned to Hierusalem, after the end of nine monethes and twentie dayes.⁹ And Ioab deliuered the number and summe of the people vnto the king, and there were in Israel eyght hundred thousand men of might that drewe swordes: and the men of Iuda were fiue hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ And Dauids heart smote him, after that he had numbred the people: And Dauid saide vnto the Lord, I haue sinned exceedingly in that I haue done: And nowe I beseche thee Lord take away the trespasse of thy seruaunt, for I haue done very foolishly.¹¹ And when Dauid was vp in the morning, the word of the Lorde came vnto the prophet Gad Dauids sear, saying:¹² Go and say vnto Dauid, thus sayth the Lorde: I offer thee three thynges, choose thee which of them I shall do vnto thee.¹³ So Gad came to Dauid, and shewed him, and said vnto him: Wylt thou haue seuen yeres hunger to come vpon thy land: or wilt thou flee three monethes before thyne enemies, they folowyng thee: or that there be three dayes pestilence in thy land? Now therefore aduise thee, and see what aunswere I shall geue to him that sent me.¹⁴ And Dauid saide vnto Gad, I am in a wonderfull strayte: Let vs fall now into the hand of the Lorde (for much is his mercy) and let me not fall into the hand of man.¹⁵ And so the Lorde sent a pestilence in Israel, from the morning vnto the time appoynted: And there dyed of the people from Dan to Beerseba seuentie thousand men.¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand vpon Hierusalem to destroy it, the Lorde repented him of the euill, & saide to the angel that destroyed the people: It is now sufficient, holde thyne hand. And the angell of the Lord was by the threshing place of Areuna the Iebusite.¹⁷ And Dauid spake vnto the Lorde, when he saw the angell that smote the people, and saide: Lo, it is I that haue sinned, and that haue done wickedlie: But these sheepe, what haue they done? Let thyne hand I pray thee be against me, and against my fathers house.

¹⁸ And Gad came the same day to Dauid, and said vnto him: Go vp and reare an aulter vnto the Lorde in the threshing floore of Areuna the Iebusite.

¹⁹ And Dauid according to the saying of Gad, went vp as the Lorde commaunded.

²⁰ And Areuna loked, and sawe the king and his seruauntes comming toward him: and Areuna went out, and bowed him selfe before the king on his face vpon the ground.

²¹ And Areuna sayde: Wherefore is my lord the king come to his seruaunt? Dauid aunswered: To bye the threshing floore of thee, and to make an aulter vnto the Lord, that the plague may ceasse from the people.

²² And Areuna saide vnto Dauid: Let my lorde the king take and offer what seemeth him good in his eyes: Beholde, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and charets, and the other instrumentes of the oxen for wood.

²³ All these thinges did Areuna as a king geue vnto the king, & said moreouer vnto the king: The Lorde thy God accept thee.

²⁴ And the king saide vnto Areuna: Not so, but I will bye it of thee at a price, and wil not offer sacrifice vnto the Lord my God of the which doth cost me nothing. And so Dauid bought the thresshing floore and the oxen for fiftie sicles of siluer.

²⁵ And Dauid buylt there an aulter vnto the Lorde, and offered burnt sacrifices, and peace offeringes: And so the Lorde was intreated for the land, and the plague ceassed from Israel.