2 Samuel 24:1–25
David Enrolls the Fighting Men
24 Againh the anger of the Lord burned against Israel,i and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census ofj Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joabk and the army commandersa with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beershebal and enrollm the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”
3 But Joabn replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over,o and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
4 The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
5 After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer,p south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer.q 6 They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon.r 7 Then they went toward the fortress of Tyres and all the towns of the Hivitest and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beershebau in the Negevv of Judah.
8 After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.w
10 David was conscience-strickenx after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinnedy greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.z”
11 Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gada the prophet, David’s seer:b 12 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ ”
13 So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you threeb years of faminec in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plagued in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
14 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercye is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
15 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.f 16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relentedg concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lordh was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,c have done wrong. These are but sheep.i What have they done?j Let your hand fall on me and my family.”k
18 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunahl the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. 20 When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.
21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”m
22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxenn for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23 Your Majesty, Araunahd giveso all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”p
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekelse q of silver for them. 25 David built an altarr to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayers in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
2 Samuel 4:1–20:26
4 When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abnerw had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. 2 Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin—Beerothx is considered part of Benjamin, 3 because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaimy and have resided there as foreigners to this day.
4 (Jonathanz son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the newsa about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled.b His name was Mephibosheth.)c
5 Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth,d and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest.e 6 They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbedf him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.
7 They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah.g 8 They brought the headh of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul,i your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avengedj my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”
9 David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has deliveredk me out of every trouble, 10 when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag.l That was the reward I gave him for his news! 11 How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his bloodm from your hand and rid the earth of you!”
12 So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them.n They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.
David Becomes King Over Israel
5 All the tribes of Israelo came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.p 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.q And the Lord saidr to you, ‘You will shepherds my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.t’ ”
3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenantu with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointedv David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years oldw when he became king, and he reignedx fortyy years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months,z and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
5:6–10pp—1Ch 11:4–9
5:11–16pp—1Ch 3:5–9; 14:1–7
6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalema to attack the Jebusites,b who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zionc—which is the City of David.d
8 On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shafte to reach those ‘lame and blind’f who are David’s enemies.a” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”
9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terracesb g inward. 10 And he became more and more powerful,h because the Lord God Almightyi was with him.j
11 Now Hiramk king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. 12 Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdoml for the sake of his people Israel.
13 After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wivesm in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14 These are the names of the children born to him there:n Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,o Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.
17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold.p 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;q 19 so David inquiredr of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”
The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”
20 So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against