^15-16 So that morning, the Lord sent an angel to spread a horrible disease everywhere in Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. And before it was over, 70,000 people had died.

When the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord felt sorry for all the suffering he had caused and told the angel, “That's enough! Don't touch them.” This happened at the threshing place that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite.

David Counts the People

(2 Samuel 24.1-9)

21 Satan decided to cause trouble for Israel by making David think it was a good idea to find out how many people there were in Israel and Judah. ² David told Joab and the army commanders, “Count everyone in Israel, from the town of Beersheba in the south all the way north to Dan. Then I will know how many people can serve in my army.”

³ Joab answered, “Your Majesty, even if the Lord made your kingdom a hundred times larger, you would still rule everyone in it. Why do you need to know how many soldiers there are? Don't you think that would make the whole nation angry?”

⁴ But David would not change his mind. And so Joab went everywhere in Israel and Judah and counted the people. He returned to Jerusalem ⁵ and told David that the total number of men who could serve in the army was 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah. ⁶ Joab refused to include anyone from the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, because he still disagreed with David's orders.

God Punishes Israel

(2 Samuel 24.10-17)

⁷ David's order to count the people made God angry, and he punished Israel. ⁸ David prayed, “I am your servant. But what I did was stupid and terribly wrong. Please forgive me.”

⁹ The Lord said to Gad, one of David's prophets, ¹⁰ “Tell David that I will punish him in one of three ways. But he will have to choose which one it will be.”

¹¹ Gad went to David and told him:

You must choose how the Lord will punish you: ¹² Will there be three years when the land won't grow enough food for its people? Or will your enemies constantly defeat you for three months? Or will the Lord send a horrible disease to strike your land for three days? Think about it and decide, because I have to give your answer to God who sent me.

¹³ David was miserable and said, “It's a terrible choice to make! But the Lord is kind, and I'd rather be punished by him than by anyone else.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a horrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 Israelites died.