¹And the anger of Yahweh again burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, Go, count Israel and Judah.

²And the king said to Joab, the captain of the army who was with him, Go about, please, through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba, and muster the people, that I may know the number of the people.

³And Joab said to the king, may Yahweh your God add to the people, a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king see it. But my lord the king, why does he delight in this word?

⁴But the word of the king was strong over Joab and over the captains of the army; so Joab and the captains of the army went out from the face of the king to muster the people, Israel.

⁵They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, south of the city that is in the middle of the wadi of Gad, and toward Jazer.

⁶They came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon.

⁷They came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and went out to the Negev of Judah, to Beer-sheba.

⁸They went about through all the land, and at the end of nine months and twenty days they came to Jerusalem.

⁹And Joab gave the number of the muster of the people to the king: Israel was eight hundred thousand men of strength who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰And David's heart struck him after he had counted the people. And David said to Yahweh, I have sinned exceedingly in what I have done; and now, Yahweh, please pass over the guilt of your slave, for I have acted foolishly exceedingly.

¹¹And David rose in the morning, and the word of Yahweh had come to Gad the prophet, the seer of David, saying:

¹²Go and speak to David: Thus says Yahweh: Three things I am imposing on you; choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.

¹³And Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before the face of your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now know and see what word I should take back to the one who sent me.

¹⁴And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall, please, into the hand of Yahweh, for his compassions are many; but into the hand of humankind let me not fall.

¹⁵And Yahweh gave a pestilence in Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people died, from Dan to Beer-sheba.

¹⁶And the messenger stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to ruin it; and Yahweh was sorry over the evil, and said to the messenger who was ruining the people, Enough! Now let your hand drop. And the messenger of Yahweh was beside the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷And David said to Yahweh, when he saw the messenger who was striking down the people, and said, Look, I, the shepherd, have sinned, and I have perverted; but these, the flock, what have they done? Let your hand be on me and on my father's house.

¹⁸And Gad came to David on that day and said to him, Go up, raise an altar for Yahweh on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁹And David went up according to the word of Gad, as Yahweh had commanded.

²⁰And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed down to the king, with his face to the land.

²¹And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor from you, to build an altar for Yahweh, so that the plague may be held back from upon the people.

²²And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever is good in his eyes. Look, the cattle for the burnt offering, and the threshing sledges and the gear of the cattle for wood.

²³All of it Araunah gave, O king, to the king. And Araunah said to the king, May Yahweh your God accept you favorably.

²⁴And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; I will not offer up to Yahweh my God burnt offerings for nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the cattle for silver, fifty shekels.

²⁵And David built an altar there for Yahweh and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings. And Yahweh was entreated for the land, and the plague was held back from upon Israel.