1 Chronicles 21 (NET)

1 Chronicles 21:1¹An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:2²David told Joab and the leaders of the army, “Go, count the number of warriors from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:3³Joab replied, “May the Lord make his army a hundred times larger! My master, O king, do not all of them serve my master? Why does my master want to do this? Why bring judgment on Israel?”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:4⁴But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:5⁵Joab reported to David the number of warriors. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:6⁶Now Joab did not number Levi and Benjamin, for the king’s edict disgusted him.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:7⁷God was also offended by it, so he attacked Israel.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:8⁸David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:9⁹The Lord told Gad, David’s prophet,Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:10¹⁰“Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them.”’”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:11¹¹Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Pick one of these:Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:12¹²three years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck down by their swords, or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land and the angel of the Lord will destroy throughout Israel’s territory.’ Now, decide what I should tell the one who sent me.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:13¹³David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:14¹⁴So the Lord sent a plague through Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:15¹⁵God sent an angel to ravage Jerusalem. As he was doing so, the Lord watched and relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was destroying, “That’s enough! Stop now!” Now the angel of the Lord was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:16¹⁶David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:17¹⁷David said to God, “Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:18¹⁸So the angel of the Lord told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:19¹⁹So David went up as Gad instructed him to do in the name of the Lord.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:20²⁰While Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the messenger, and he and his four sons hid themselves.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:21²¹When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:22²²David said to Ornan, “Sell me the threshing floor so I can build on it an altar for the Lord —I’ll pay top price —so that the plague may be removed from the people.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:23²³Ornan told David, “You can have it! My master, the king, may do what he wants. Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:24²⁴King David replied to Ornan, “No, I insist on buying it for top price. I will not offer to the Lord what belongs to you or offer a burnt sacrifice that cost me nothing.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:25²⁵So David bought the place from Ornan for 600 pieces of gold.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:26²⁶David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. He called out to the Lord, and the Lord responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:27²⁷The Lord ordered the messenger to put his sword back into its sheath.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:28²⁸At that time, when David saw that the Lord responded to him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:29²⁹Now the Lord ’s tabernacle (which Moses had made in the wilderness) and the altar for burnt sacrifices were at that time at the worship center in Gibeon.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

1 Chronicles 21:30³⁰But David could not go before it to seek God’s will, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s