Information Retrieved -> 2 Samuel 24(NLT)

Book Chapter Verse Text
2 Samuel 24 1 Once again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah," the LORD told him.
2 Samuel 24 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, "Take a census of all the people in the land--from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south--so that I may know how many people there are."
2 Samuel 24 3 But Joab replied to the king, "May the LORD your God let you live until there are a hundred times as many people in your kingdom as there are now! But why do you want to do this?"
2 Samuel 24 4 But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and his officers went out to count the people of Israel.
2 Samuel 24 5 First they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, south of the town in the valley, in the direction of Gad. Then they went on to Jazer,
2 Samuel 24 6 then to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi and to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon.
2 Samuel 24 7 Then they came to the stronghold of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went south to Judah as far as Beersheba.
2 Samuel 24 8 Having gone through the entire land, they completed their task in nine months and twenty days and then returned to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 24 9 Joab reported the number of people to the king. There were 800,000 men of military age in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.
2 Samuel 24 10 But after he had taken the census, David's conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly and shouldn't have taken the census. Please forgive me, LORD, for doing this foolish thing."
2 Samuel 24 11 The next morning the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, who was David's seer. This was the message:
2 Samuel 24 12 "Go and say to David, `This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will do it.'"
2 Samuel 24 13 So Gad came to David and asked him, "Will you choose three years of famine throughout the land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and let me know what answer to give the LORD."
2 Samuel 24 14 "This is a desperate situation!" David replied to Gad. "But let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands."
2 Samuel 24 15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. Seventy thousand people died throughout the nation.
2 Samuel 24 16 But as the death angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented and said to the angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2 Samuel 24 17 When David saw the angel, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are innocent--what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family."
2 Samuel 24 18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, "Go and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
2 Samuel 24 19 So David went to do what the LORD had commanded him.
2 Samuel 24 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came forward and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.
2 Samuel 24 21 "Why have you come, my lord?" Araunah asked. And David replied, "I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that the LORD will stop the plague."
2 Samuel 24 22 "Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish," Araunah said to David. "Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing tools and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar.
2 Samuel 24 23 I will give it all to you, and may the LORD your God accept your sacrifice."
2 Samuel 24 24 But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing." So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.
2 Samuel 24 25 David built an altar there to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped.
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