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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>2 Samuel 24 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_samuel/24.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_samuel/24-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 2 Samuel 24</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_samuel/23.htm" title="2 Samuel 23">◄</a> 2 Samuel 24 <a href="../1_kings/1.htm" title="1 Kings 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">David Counts the People</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="1CH 21:1-6">1 Chronicles 21.1-6</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_1"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.1" class="v10_24_1">1</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> was angry with Israel again, and he made David think it would be a good idea to count the people in Israel and Judah. </span><span class="v10_24_2"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.2" class="v10_24_2">2</span>So David told Joab and the army officers,<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.2!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> “Go to every tribe in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north all the way south to Beersheba, and count everyone who can serve in the army. I want to know how many there are.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_3"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.3" class="v10_24_3">3</span>Joab answered, “I hope the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God will give you 100 times more soldiers than you already have. I hope you will live to see that day! But why do you want to do a thing like this?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_4"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.4" class="v10_24_4">4</span>But when David refused to change his mind, Joab and the army officers went out and started counting the people. </span><span class="v10_24_5"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.5" class="v10_24_5">5</span>They crossed the Jordan River and began with<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Aroer and the town in the middle of the river valley. From there they went toward Gad and on as far as Jazer. </span><span class="v10_24_6"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.6" class="v10_24_6">6</span>They went to Gilead and to Kadesh in Syria.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.6!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Then they went to Dan, Ijon,<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.6!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and on toward Sidon. </span><span class="v10_24_7"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.7" class="v10_24_7">7</span>They came to the fortress of Tyre, then went through every town of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Finally, they went to Beersheba in the Southern Desert of Judah. </span><span class="v10_24_8"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.8" class="v10_24_8">8</span>After they had gone through the whole land, they went back to Jerusalem. It had taken them 9 months and 20 days.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_9"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.9" class="v10_24_9">9</span>Joab came and told David, “In Israel there are 800,000 who can serve in the army, and in Judah there are 500,000.”</span></p><h3 class="s1">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Punishes David</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="1CH 21:7-17">1 Chronicles 21.7-17</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_10"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.10" class="v10_24_10">10</span>After everyone had been counted, David realized he had done wrong. He told the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, “What I did was stupid and terribly wrong. <span class="nd">Lord</span>, please forgive me.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_11"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.11" class="v10_24_11">11</span>Before David even got up the next morning, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had told David's prophet Gad </span><span class="v10_24_12"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.12-2Sam.24.13" class="v10_24_12">12-13</span>to take a message to David. Gad went to David and told him:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v10_24_12">You must choose one of three ways for the <span class="nd">Lord</span> to punish you: Will there be seven<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.12-2Sam.24.13!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> years when the land won't grow enough food for your people? Or will your enemies chase you and make you run from them for three months? Or will there be three days of horrible disease in your land? Think about it and decide, because I have to give your answer to God, who sent me.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_14"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.14" class="v10_24_14">14</span>David was really frightened and said, “It's a terrible choice to make! But the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is kind, and I'd rather be punished by him than by anyone else.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_15"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.15-2Sam.24.16" class="v10_24_15">15-16</span>So that morning, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> 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.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_15">When the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> 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.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_17"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.17" class="v10_24_17">17</span>David saw the angel killing everyone and told the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, “These people are like sheep with me as their shepherd.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.17!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> I have sinned terribly, but they have done nothing wrong. Please, punish me and my family instead of them!”</span></p><h3 class="s1">David Buys Araunah's Threshing Place</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="1CH 21:18-22:1">1 Chronicles 21.18—22.1</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_18"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.18-2Sam.24.19" class="v10_24_18">18-19</span>That same day the prophet Gad came and told David, “Go to the threshing place that belongs to Araunah and build an altar there for the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_18">So David went.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_20"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.20" class="v10_24_20">20</span>Araunah looked and saw David and his soldiers coming up toward him. He went over to David, bowed down low, </span><span class="v10_24_21"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.21" class="v10_24_21">21</span>and said, “Your Majesty! Why have you come to see me?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_21">David answered, “I've come to buy your threshing place. I have to build the <span class="nd">Lord</span> an altar here, so this disease will stop killing the people.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_22"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.22" class="v10_24_22">22</span>Araunah said, “Take whatever you want and offer your sacrifice. Here are some oxen for the sacrifice. You can use the threshing-boards<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.24.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and the wooden yokes for the fire. </span><span class="v10_24_23"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.23" class="v10_24_23">23</span>Take them—they're yours! I hope the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God will be pleased with you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_24"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.24" class="v10_24_24">24</span>But David answered, “No! I have to pay you what they're worth. I can't offer the <span class="nd">Lord</span> my God a sacrifice that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing place and the oxen for 50 pieces of silver. </span><span class="v10_24_25"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.24.25" class="v10_24_25">25</span>Then he built an altar for the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. He offered sacrifices to please the <span class="nd">Lord</span> and to ask for his blessings.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_24_25">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> answered the prayers of the people, and no one else died from the terrible disease.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Joab … officers: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some manuscripts of one ancient translation (see 24.4); 1 Chronicles 21.2; Hebrew “Joab, the officer of the army.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">began with: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some manuscripts of one ancient translation; Hebrew “set up camp in.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.6 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Kadesh in Syria: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “the lower slopes of Mount Hermon.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.6 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Dan, Ijon: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Danjaan,” an unknown place.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.12,13 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">seven: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew; some manuscripts of one ancient translation “three” (see 1 Chronicles 21.12).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">as their shepherd: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Dead Sea Scrolls, and some manuscripts of two ancient translations (see 1 Chronicles 21.17); these words are not in the Standard Hebrew Text of this verse.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.22 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">threshing-boards: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Heavy boards with bits of rock or metal on the bottom. They were dragged across the grain to separate the husks from the kernels.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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