21Satan rose up against Israel. He stirred up David to count the men of Israel. ²So David spoke to Joab and the commanders of the troops. He said, “Go! Count the men of Israel from Beersheba all the way to Dan. Report back to me. Then I’ll know how many there are.”

³Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops 100 times. King David, you are my master. Aren’t all of the men under your control? Why would you want me to count them? Do you want to make Israel guilty?”

⁴In spite of what Joab said, the king’s word had more authority than Joab’s word did. So Joab left and went all through Israel. Then he came back to Jerusalem. ⁵Joab reported to David how many fighting men he had counted. In the whole land of Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could use a sword well. That included 470,000 men in Judah.

⁶But Joab didn’t include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the total number. The king’s command was sickening to Joab. ⁷It was also evil in the sight of God. So he punished Israel.

⁸Then David said to God, “I committed a great sin when I counted Israel’s men. I beg you to take away my guilt. I’ve done a very foolish thing.”

⁹The Lord spoke to David’s prophet Gad. He said, ¹⁰“Go and tell David, ‘The Lord says, “I could punish you in three different ways. Choose one of them for me to use against you.” ’ ”

¹¹So Gad went to David. He said to him, “The Lord says, ‘Take your choice. ¹²You can have three years when there will not be enough food in the land. You can have three months when your enemies will sweep you away. They will catch up with you. They will cut you down with their swords. Or you can have three days when my sword will punish you. That means there would be three days of plague in the land. My angel would strike people down in every part of Israel.’

“So take your pick. Tell me how to answer the One who sent me.”

¹³David said to Gad, “I’m suffering terribly. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord. His mercy is very great. But don’t let me fall into the hands of men.”

¹⁴So the Lord sent a plague on Israel. And 70,000 Israelites died. ¹⁵God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing it, the Lord saw it. He was very sad because of the plague. So he spoke to the angel who was destroying the people. He said, “That is enough! Do not kill any more people!”

The angel of the Lord was standing at Araunah’s threshing floor. Araunah was from the city of Jebus.

¹⁶David looked up. He saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth. The angel was holding out a sword over Jerusalem. David and the elders fell with their faces to the ground. They were wearing black clothes.

¹⁷David said to God, “I ordered the fighting men to be counted. I’m the one who has sinned. I’m the one who has done what is wrong. These people are like sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your powerful hand punish me and my family. But don’t let this plague continue to strike your people.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up to the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. He wanted David to build an altar there to honor the Lord.

¹⁹So David went up and did it. He obeyed the message that Gad had spoken in the Lord’s name.

²⁰Araunah was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel. His four children were with him. They hid themselves. ²¹David approached the threshing floor. Araunah looked up and saw him. So Araunah left the threshing floor. He bowed down to David with his face toward the ground.

²²David said to him, “Let me have the property your threshing floor is on. I want to build an altar there to honor the Lord. When I do, the plague on the people will be stopped. Sell the threshing floor to me for the full price.”

²³Araunah said to David, “Take it! King David, you are my master. Do what you please. I’ll even provide the oxen for the burnt offerings. Use boards from the threshing sleds for the wood. Use the wheat for the grain offering. I’ll give all of it to you.”

²⁴But King David replied to Araunah, “No! I want to pay the full price. I won’t take what belongs to you and give it to the Lord. I won’t sacrifice a burnt offering that hasn’t cost me anything.”

²⁵So David paid Araunah 15 pounds of gold for the property. ²⁶David built an altar there to honor the Lord. He sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. He called out to the Lord. The Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven on the altar for burnt offerings.

²⁷Then the Lord spoke to the angel. And the angel put his sword away. ²⁸When the angel did that, David was still at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. David saw that the Lord had answered him. So he offered sacrifices there.

²⁹At that time, the Lord’s holy tent was at the high place in Gibeon. The altar for burnt offerings was there too. Moses had made the holy tent in the desert. ³⁰David couldn’t go to the tent to pray to God. That’s because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

22David announced, “The house of the Lord God will be built here. Israel’s altar for burnt offerings will also be here.”

David Makes Plans for Building the Temple

²David gave orders to bring together the outsiders who were living in Israel. He appointed some of them to cut stones. He wanted them to prepare blocks of stone for building the house of God.

³David provided a large amount of iron to make nails. They were for the doors of the gates and for the fittings. He provided more bronze than anyone could weigh. ⁴He also provided more cedar logs than anyone could count. The people of Sidon and Tyre brought large numbers of logs to David.

⁵David said, “My son Solomon is young. He’s never done anything like this before. The house that will be built for the Lord should be very grand and wonderful. It should be famous and beautiful in the eyes of all of the nations. I’ll get things ready for it.” So David got many things ready before he died.

⁶Then he sent for his son Solomon. He told him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷David said to Solomon, “My son, with all my heart I wanted to build a house for the Lord my God. That’s where his Name will be. ⁸But a message from the Lord came to me. It said, ‘You have spilled the blood of many people. You have fought many wars. You are not the one who will build a house for my Name. That is because I have seen you spill the blood of many people on the earth.

⁹“ ‘But you are going to have a son. He will be a man of peace. And I will give him peace and rest from all of his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon. I will give Israel peace and quiet while he is king. ¹⁰He will build a house for my Name. He will be my son. And I will be his father. I will make his kingdom secure over Israel. It will last forever.’

¹¹“My son, may the Lord be with you. May you have success. May you build the house of the Lord your God, just as he said you would. ¹²May the Lord give you good sense. May he give you understanding when he makes you king over Israel. Then you will keep the law of the Lord your God.

¹³“Be careful to obey the rules and laws the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Then you will have success. Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope.

¹⁴“I’ve tried very hard to provide for the Lord’s temple. I’ve provided 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver. I’ve provided more bronze and iron than anyone can weigh. I’ve also given plenty of wood and stone. You can add to it.

¹⁵“You have a lot of workers. You have people who can cut stones and people who can lay the stones. You have people who can work with wood. You also have people who are skilled in every other kind of work. ¹⁶Some of them can work with gold and silver. Others can work with bronze and iron. There are more workers than anyone can count. So begin the work. May the Lord be with you.”

¹⁷Then David ordered all of Israel’s leaders to help his son Solomon. ¹⁸He said to them, “The Lord your God is with you. He’s given you peace and rest on every side. He’s handed the people who are living in the land over to me. The land has been brought under the control of the Lord and his people.

¹⁹“So look to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Start building the temple of the Lord God. Then bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord into it. Also bring in the sacred articles that belong to God. The temple will be built for the Name of the Lord.”

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