24 *aAnd bagain the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and ||he moved David against them to say, cGo, number Israel and Judah. 2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, ||Go now through all the tribes of Israel, dfrom Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. 3 And Joab said unto the king, Now ethe Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? 4 Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. 5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in fAroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the ||river of Gad, and toward gJazer: 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the ||land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to hDan-jaan, and about to iZidon, 7 And came to the jstrong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of kthe Hivites, and of kthe Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: land there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men mthat drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

10 And nDavid’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, oI have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have pdone very foolishly. 11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet qGad, David’s rseer, saying, 12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall sseven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. 14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are ||great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. 15 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people tfrom Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.

16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, uthe Lord repented him of the evil, and said to wthe angel that xdestroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of †Araunah the Jebusite. 17 And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I yhave done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house. 18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of †Araunah the Jebusite. 19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. 20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. 21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, zTo buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that athe plague may be stayed from the people. 22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what bseemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and cthreshing instruments and other dinstruments of the oxen for wood. 23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God eaccept thee. 24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for ffifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and goffered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So hthe Lord was intreated for the land, and ithe plague was stayed from Israel.

12 And the Lord sent aNathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, bThere were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own †meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, cAs the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing ||shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb dfourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I eanointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and fthy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou gdespised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? hthou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; ibecause thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will ktake thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 lAnd David said unto Nathan, mI have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath nput away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord oto blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David †fasted, and went in, and play all night upon the earth. 17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then †vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the earth, and qwashed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and rworshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: sfor I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but the shall not return to me. 24 *And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and ushe bare a son, and xhe called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name ||Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

26 And yJoab fought against zRabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and †it be called after my name. 29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. 30 aAnd he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city †in great abundance. 31 And he brought forth the people that were therein, and bput them under csaws, and under …