¹¹When David got up in the morning, the Lord spoke his word to Gad, who was a prophet and David’s seer. ¹²The Lord told Gad, “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I offer you three choices. Choose one of them and I will do it to you.’ ”

¹³So Gad went to David and said to him, “Should three years of hunger come to you and your land? Or should your enemies chase you for three months? Or should there be three days of disease in your land? Think about it. Then decide which of these things I should tell the Lord who sent me.”

¹⁴David said to Gad, “I am in great trouble. Let the Lord punish us, because the Lord is very merciful. Don’t let my punishment come from human beings!”

¹⁵So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the chosen time to stop. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand people died. ¹⁶When the angel raised his arm toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened. He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “That is enough! Put down your arm!” The angel of the Lord was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷When David saw the angel that killed the people, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who sinned and did wrong. These people only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong. Please punish me and my family.”

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