King James Version1 Chronicles21

1 Chronicles

1 And Sa­tan stood up against Is­rael, and pro­voked David to num­ber Is­rael. 2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the peo­ple, Go, num­ber Is­rael from Beer­she­ba even to Dan; and bring the num­ber of them to me, that I may know it. 3 And Joab an­swered, The LORD make his peo­ple an hun­dred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's ser­vants? why then doth my lord re­quire this thing? why will he be a cause of tres­pass to Is­rael? 4 Nev­er­the­less the king's word pre­vailed against Joab. Where­fore Joab de­part­ed, and went through­out all Is­rael, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the sum of the num­ber of the peo­ple unto David. And all they of Is­rael were a thou­sand thou­sand and an hun­dred thou­sand men that drew sword: and Ju­dah was four hun­dred three­score and ten thou­sand men that drew sword. 6 But Levi and Ben­jamin count­ed he not among them: for the king's word was abom­inable to Joab. 7 And God was dis­pleased with this thing; there­fore he smote Is­rael. 8 And David said unto God, I have sinned great­ly, be­cause I have done this thing: but now, I be­seech thee, do away the in­iq­ui­ty of thy ser­vant; for I have done very fool­ish­ly. 9 And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, say­ing, 10 Go and tell David, say­ing, Thus saith the LORD, I of­fer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee 12 Ei­ther three years' famine; or three months to be de­stroyed be­fore thy foes, while that the sword of thine en­e­mies over­taketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pesti­lence, in the land, and the an­gel of the LORD de­stroy­ing through­out all the coasts of Is­rael. Now there­fore ad­vise thy­self what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mer­cies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. 14 So the LORD sent pesti­lence upon Is­rael: and there fell of Is­rael sev­en­ty thou­sand men. 15 And God sent an an­gel unto Jerusalem to de­stroy it: and as he was de­stroy­ing, the LORD be­held, and he re­pent­ed him of the evil, and said to the an­gel that de­stroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the an­gel of the LORD stood by the thresh­ingfloor of Or­nan the Je­busite. 16 And David lift­ed up his eyes, and saw the an­gel of the LORD stand be­tween the earth and the heav­en, hav­ing a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the el­ders of Is­rael, who were clothed in sack­cloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that com­mand­ed the peo­ple to be num­bered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil in­deed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy peo­ple, that they should be plagued. 18 Then the an­gel of the LORD com­mand­ed Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an al­tar unto the LORD in the thresh­ingfloor of Or­nan the Je­busite. 19 And David went up at the say­ing of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD. 20 And Or­nan turned back, and saw the an­gel; and his four sons with him hid them­selves. Now Or­nan was thresh­ing wheat. 21 And as David came to Or­nan, Or­nan looked and saw David, and went out of the thresh­ingfloor, and bowed him­self to David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Or­nan, Grant me the place of this thresh­ingfloor, that I may build an al­tar there­in unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the peo­ple. 23 And Or­nan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt of­fer­ings, and the thresh­ing in­stru­ments for wood, and the wheat for the meat of­fer­ing; I give it all. 24 And king David said to Or­nan, Nay; but I will ver­i­ly buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor of­fer burnt of­fer­ings with­out cost. 25 So David gave to Or­nan for the place six hun­dred shekels of gold by weight. 26 And David built there an al­tar unto the LORD, and of­fered burnt of­fer­ings and peace of­fer­ings, and called upon the LORD; and he an­swered him from heav­en by fire upon the al­tar of burnt of­fer­ing. 27 And the LORD com­mand­ed the an­gel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath there­of. 28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had an­swered him in the thresh­ingfloor of Or­nan the Je­busite, then he sac­ri­ficed there. 29 For the taber­na­cle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilder­ness, and the al­tar of the burnt of­fer­ing, were at that sea­son in the high place at Gibeon. 30 But David could not go be­fore it to en­quire of God: for he was afraid be­cause of the sword of the an­gel of the LORD.