14
David said to Gad, "I am in great trouble. Let the Lord punish us, because the Lord is very merciful. Don't let my punishment come from human beings!"
15
So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the chosen time to stop. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand people died.
16
When the angel raised his arm toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened. He said to the angel who was destroying the people, "That is enough! Put down your arm!" The angel of the Lord was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17
When David saw the angel that killed the people, he said to the Lord, "I am the one who sinned and did wrong. These people only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong. Please punish me and my family."
18
That day Gad came to David and said, "Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
19
So David did what Gad told him to do, just as the Lord commanded.
20
Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming to him. So he went out and bowed facedown on the ground before the king.
21
He said, "Why has my master the king come to me?" David answered, "To buy the threshing floor from you so I can build an altar to the Lord. Then the terrible disease will stop."
22
Araunah said to David, "My master and king, you may take anything you want for a sacrifice. Here are some oxen for the whole burnt offering and the threshing boards and the yokes for the wood.
23
My king, I give everything to you." Araunah also said to the king, "May the Lord your God be pleased with you."
24
But the king answered Araunah, "No, I will pay you for the land. I won't offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for one and one-fourth pounds of silver.