2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21; 1 Chronicles 22; Psalms 30

1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

2 So David gave orders to Joab, the commander of his army: "Go with your officers through all the tribes of Israel from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are."

3 But Joab answered the king, "Your Majesty, may the Lord your God make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now, and may you live to see him do it. But why does Your Majesty want to do this?"

4 But the king made Joab and his officers obey his order; they left his presence and went out to count the people of Israel.

5 They crossed the Jordan and camped south of Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, in the territory of Gad. From there they went north to Jazer,

6 and on to Gilead and to Kadesh, in Hittite territory. Then they went to Dan, and from Dan they went west to Sidon.

7 Then they went south to the fortified city of Tyre, on to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and finally to Beersheba, in the southern part of Judah.

8 So after nine months and twenty days they returned to Jerusalem, having traveled through the whole country.

9 They reported to the king the total number of men capable of military service: 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.

10 But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the Lord, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly."

11 The Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses." The next morning, after David had gotten up,

13 Gad went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, "Which is it to be? Three years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord."

14 David answered, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful."

15 So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that he had chosen. From one end of the country to the other seventy thousand Israelites died.

16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

17 David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, "I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family."

18 That same day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar to the Lord."

19 David obeyed the Lord's command and went as Gad had told him to.

20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming up to him. He threw himself on the ground in front of David

21 and asked, "Your Majesty, why are you here?" David answered, "To buy your threshing place and build an altar for the Lord, in order to stop the epidemic."

22 "Take it, Your Majesty," Araunah said, "and offer to the Lord whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar; here are their yokes and the threshing boards to use as fuel."

23 Araunah gave it all to the king and said to him, "May the Lord your God accept your offering."

24 But the king answered, "No, I will pay you for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing." And he bought the threshing place and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.

25 Then he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Lord answered his prayer, and the epidemic in Israel was stopped.

1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

2 David gave orders to Joab and the other officers, "Go through Israel, from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are."

3 Joab answered, "May the Lord make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now! Your Majesty, they are all your servants. Why do you want to do this and make the whole nation guilty?"

4 But the king made Joab obey the order. Joab went out, traveled through the whole country of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem.

5 He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service: 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah.

6 Because Joab disapproved of the king's command, he did not take any census of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin.

7 God was displeased with what had been done, so he punished Israel.

8 David said to God, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly."

9 Then the Lord said to Gad, David's prophet,

10 "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses."

11 Gad went to David, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, "Which is it to be?

12 Three years of famine? Or three months of running away from the armies of your enemies? Or three days during which the Lord attacks you with his sword and sends an epidemic on your land, using his angel to bring death throughout Israel? What answer shall I give the Lord?"

13 David replied to Gad, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish me, because he is merciful."

14 So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died.

15 Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

16 David saw the angel standing in midair, holding his sword in his hand, ready to destroy Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders of the people - all of whom were wearing sackcloth - bowed low, with their faces touching the ground.

17 David prayed, "O God, I am the one who did wrong. I am the one who ordered the census. What have these poor people done? Lord, my God, punish me and my family, and spare your people."

18 The angel of the Lord told Gad to command David to go and build an altar to the Lord at Araunah's threshing place.

19 David obeyed the Lord's command and went, as Gad had told him to.

20 There at the threshing place Araunah and his four sons were threshing wheat, and when they saw the angel, the sons ran and hid.

21 As soon as Araunah saw King David approaching, he left the threshing place and bowed low, with his face touching the ground.

22 David said to him, "Sell me your threshing place, so that I can build an altar to the Lord, to stop the epidemic. I'll give you the full price."

23 "Take it, Your Majesty," Araunah said, "and do whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar, and here are the threshing boards to use as fuel, and wheat to give as an offering. I give it all to you."

24 But the king answered, "No, I will pay you the full price. I will not give as an offering to the Lord something that belongs to you, something that costs me nothing."

25 And he paid Araunah six hundred gold coins for the threshing place.

26 He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He prayed, and the Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn the sacrifices on the altar.

27 The Lord told the angel to put his sword away, and the angel obeyed.

28 David saw by this that the Lord had answered his prayer, so he offered sacrifices on the altar at Araunah's threshing place.

29 The Tent of the Lord's presence which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar on which sacrifices were burned were still at the place of worship at Gibeon at this time;

30 but David was not able to go there to worship God, because he was afraid of the sword of the Lord's angel.

1 So David said, "This is where the Temple of the Lord God will be. Here is the altar where the people of Israel are to offer burnt offerings."

2 King David gave orders for all the foreigners living in the land of Israel to assemble, and he put them to work. Some of them prepared stone blocks for building the Temple.

3 He supplied a large amount of iron for making nails and clamps for the wooden gates, and so much bronze that no one could weigh it.

4 He had the people of Tyre and Sidon bring him a large number of cedar logs.

5 David thought, "The Temple that my son Solomon is to build must be splendid and world-famous. But he is young and inexperienced, so I must make preparations for it." So David got large amounts of the materials ready before he died.

6 He sent for his son Solomon and commanded him to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 David said to him, "Son, I wanted to build a temple to honor the Lord my God.

8 But the Lord told me that I had killed too many people and fought too many wars. And so, because of all the bloodshed I have caused, he would not let me build a temple for him.

9 He did, however, make me a promise. He said, "You will have a son who will rule in peace, because I will give him peace from all his enemies. His name will be Solomon, because during his reign I will give Israel peace and security.

10 He will build a temple for me. He will be my son, and I will be his father. His dynasty will rule Israel forever.' "

11 David continued, "Now, son, may the Lord your God be with you, and may he keep his promise to make you successful in building a temple for him.

12 And may the Lord your God give you insight and wisdom so that you may govern Israel according to his Law.

13 If you obey all the laws which the Lord gave to Moses for Israel, you will be successful. Be determined and confident, and don't let anything make you afraid.

14 As for the Temple, by my efforts I have accumulated almost four thousand tons of gold and nearly forty thousand tons of silver to be used in building it. Besides that, there is an unlimited supply of bronze and iron. I also have wood and stone ready, but you must get more.

15 You have many workers. There are stonecutters to work in the quarries, and there are masons and carpenters, as well as a large number of skilled workers of every sort who can work

16 with gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you."

17 David commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon.

18 He said, "The Lord your God has been with you and given you peace on all sides. He let me conquer all the people who used to live in this land, and they are now subject to you and to the Lord.

19 Now serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Start building the Temple, so that you can place in it the Covenant Box of the Lord and all the other sacred objects used in worshiping him."

1 I praise you, Lord, because you have saved me and kept my enemies from gloating over me.

2 I cried to you for help, O Lord my God, and you healed me;

3 you kept me from the grave. I was on my way to the depths below, but you restored my life.

4 Sing praise to the Lord, all his faithful people! Remember what the Holy One has done, and give him thanks!

5 His anger lasts only a moment, his goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning.

6 I felt secure and said to myself, "I will never be defeated."

7 You were good to me, Lord; you protected me like a mountain fortress. But then you hid yourself from me, and I was afraid.

8 I called to you, Lord; I begged for your help:

9 "What will you gain from my death? What profit from my going to the grave? Are dead people able to praise you? Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness?

10 Hear me, Lord, and be merciful! Help me, Lord!"

11 You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; you have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy.

12 So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you. Lord, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever.