David's Census Brings Pestilence
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f Then g Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
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So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, "Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number."
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But Joab said, "May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?"
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But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem.
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And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were h 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah h 470,000 who drew the sword.
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i But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.
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But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.
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And David said to God, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please j take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."
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And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's k seer, saying,
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"Go and say to David, 'Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.'"
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So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Choose what you will:
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either l three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me."
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Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man."
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So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.
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And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he m relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, "It is enough; now stay your hand." And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, n clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
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And David said to God, "Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people."
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 21:1 - 28
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
2 Samuel 24:1 - 25
Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah.
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Cross References
Zechariah 3:1 - 2
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
2 Samuel 24:1
Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah.
Job 1:6 - 12
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
Job 2:1 - 7
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 24:9
And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 24:9
And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 27:24
Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish. Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 12:13
David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 29:29
Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer.
1 Samuel 9:9
(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, "Come, let us go to the seer," for today's "prophet" was formerly called a seer.)
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Cross References
2 Samuel 24:13
So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, "Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.
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Cross References
Genesis 6:6
And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:31
And his servants said to him, "Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.
2 Samuel 3:31
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." And King David followed the bier.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.