⁵ Then the prophet ^(A)Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(A)the prophet Gad, David's ^(B)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer^[a] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(C)three^[b] 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.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(D)for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

^15 (E)So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from ^(F)Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. ¹⁶ And when ^(G)the angel stretched out his hand towards Jerusalem ^(H)to destroy it, ^(I)the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel ^(J)who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And ^(K)the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^(L)Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ^(M)Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded.

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's ^(A)seer, saying, ¹⁰ “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.’” ¹¹ So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: ¹² either ^(B)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.” ¹³ 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.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he ^(C)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. ¹⁶ 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, ^(D)clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. ¹⁷ 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.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ Now ^(E)the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord.

^25 (A)And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ^(B)according to the commandment of David and of Gad ^(C)the king's seer and of ^(D)Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets.