¹And the Lord's anger was again kindled against Israel, and he stirred David up against them and said, “Go and count Israel and Judah.” ²And the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go and cover the ground of all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, so that I know the number of the people.” ³But Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people, some here and some there, a hundred times over, with the eyes of my lord the king observing it. But why does my lord the king delight in this matter?” ⁴But the king's decision was firm towards Joab and towards the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out before the king to count the people – Israel. ⁵And they crossed the Jordan and encamped at Aroer, to the right of the city, this being in the middle of the ravine of Gad and towards Jazer. ⁶And they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-Hodshi. Then they came to Dan-Jaan and round towards Sidon. ⁷And they came to the fortification of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and they went out towards the south of Judah to Beersheba. ⁸And they went up and down in all the land, and after nine months and twenty days they came to Jerusalem. ⁹And Joab gave the number of the census of the people to the king, and Israel consisted of eight hundred thousand soldiers who drew the sword, and Judah consisted of five hundred thousand men. ¹⁰Then David's heart cut him up after he had counted the people, and David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in that I did this. So now, O Lord, please remit the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” ¹¹And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet, David's seer, as follows: ¹²“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: «I have three things to impose on you. Choose one of them, and I will do it to you.» ’ ” ¹³So Gad went to David and told him and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come in your land, or three months of you fleeing from your adversaries as they pursue you, or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now be aware of them and consider what answer I should give to him who sent me.” ¹⁴Then David said to Gad, “I am very much in a strait. Let us, then, fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great, and don't let me fall into the hand of man.” ¹⁵So the Lord caused a pestilence in Israel, from the morning to the appointed time. And from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand of the people died. ¹⁶But when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord grieved over the harm, and he said to the angel who was to destroy the people, “Enough now; stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷Then when David saw the angel who struck the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, “I see that I have sinned and that I have been iniquitous, but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, then, be against me and the house of my father.” ¹⁸And Gad came to David on that day, and he said to him, “Go up and set up an altar to the Lord at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹So David went up according to Gad's words, as the Lord had commanded. ²⁰And when Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming across to him, Araunah went out and prostrated himself to the king face down. ²¹And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To purchase the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, so that the plague on the people stops.” ²²Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever is right in his sight. See the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing boards and equipment to go with the oxen for the wood.” ²³Araunah gave it all to the king – the king – and Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you graciously.” ²⁴Then the king said to Araunah, “No, for I insist on buying it from you for its value, and I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God at no cost.” And David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵And David built an altar to the Lord there, and he offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings, and the Lord was prevailed upon for the land, and the plague on Israel stopped.