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¹ And Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.² And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring to me, and I will know their number.³ And Joab said, May Jehovah add to His people as if they were a hundred times; my lord, O king, are they not all of them servants to my lord? Why does my lord desire this? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?⁴ But the word of the king was heavy against Joab; and Joab went out and went up and down all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.⁵ And Joab gave the tally of the census of the people to David; and all Israel was a million and one hundred thousand men drawing sword; and Judah was four hundred and seventy thousand drawing sword.⁶ And Levi and Benjamin he did not number among them, for the word of the king was loathsome to Joab.

⁷ And it was evil in the eyes of God as to this thing, and He struck Israel.⁸ And David said to God, I have sinned exceedingly in that I have done this thing; and now, I pray You to cause the iniquity of Your servant to pass away, for I have acted very foolishly.⁹ And Jehovah spoke to Gad, the seer of David, saying,¹⁰ Go; and you shall speak to David, saying, So says Jehovah, I am extending to you three things ; choose one of these for yourself, that I may do to you.¹¹ And Gad came to David and said to him, So says Jehovah, Choose for yourself:¹² either for three years of famine, or three months to be wasted before your adversaries, even to be overtaken by the sword of your enemies; or the sword of Jehovah three days, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. And now, see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me.¹³ And David said to Gad, It is great distressing to me; now let me fall into the hand of Jehovah, for His mercies are very many; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.¹⁴ And Jehovah sent a pestilence into Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.¹⁵ And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. And as he was destroying, Jehovah saw, and had pity as to the evil, and said to the destroying angel, Enough! Now stay your hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.¹⁶ And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between the earth and the heavens, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem; and David and the elders fell on their faces, covered with sackcloth.¹⁷ And David said to God, Was it not I, I who said to number the people? Yea, it was I who sinned, and truly have done evil; and these, the flock, what have they done? O Jehovah, my God, I prayYou, let Your hand be on me and on my father'shouse, and not on Your people, to be plagued.

¹⁸ And the angel of Jehovah spoke to Gad, saying to David, Surely David shall go up to raise an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.¹⁹ And David went up by the word of Gad, that which he spoke in the name of Jehovah.²⁰ And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves; and Ornan was threshing wheat.²¹ And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor and bowed down to David, with his face to the ground.²² And David said to Ornan, Give me the site of the threshing-floor, and I will build an altar to Jehovah in it; for full silver give it to me, and the plague will be restrained from the people.²³ And Ornan said to David, Take it for yourself, and my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes; see, I have given the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood,and the wheat for the food offering; I giveit all.²⁴ And King David said to Ornan, No, for buying I will buy it for full silver, for I will not lift up what is yours to Jehovah, so as to offer a burnt offering without cost.²⁵ And David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold in weight for the place.²⁶ And David built an altar there to Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called to Jehovah; and He answered him with fire from the heavens on the altar of the burnt offering.²⁷ And Jehovah commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.²⁸ At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.²⁹ And the tabernacle of Jehovah that Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that time in the high place in Gibeon;³⁰ and David was not able to go before it to seek God, for he was terrified from the face of the Angel of Jehovah.