CINXE.COM
1 Chronicles 21 NIV
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://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>1 Chronicles 21 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></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/1_chronicles/21.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/1_chronicles/21-1.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="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > 1 Chronicles 21</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="../1_chronicles/20.htm" title="1 Chronicles 20">◄</a> 1 Chronicles 21 <a href="../1_chronicles/22.htm" title="1 Chronicles 22">►</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"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/1_chronicles/21.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">David Counts the Fighting Men</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>But Joab replied, “May the <span class="name">Lord</span> multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>The <span class="name">Lord</span> said to Gad, David’s seer, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>“Go and tell David, ‘This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ ”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says: ‘Take your choice: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>three years of famine, three months of being swept away <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate (see also 2 Samuel 24:13) of fleeing">a</a></sup></span> before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the <span class="name">Lord</span>—days of plague in the land, with the angel of the <span class="name">Lord</span> ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the <span class="name">Lord</span>, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>So the <span class="name">Lord</span> sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the <span class="name">Lord</span> saw it and relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the <span class="name">Lord</span> was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah; also in verses 18-28">b</a></sup></span> the Jebusite.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>David looked up and saw the angel of the <span class="name">Lord</span> standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see 2 Samuel 24:17 and note); Masoretic Text does not have the shepherd.">c</a></sup></span> have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? <span class="name">Lord</span> my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.”</p> <p class="sectionhead">David Builds an Altar</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Then the angel of the <span class="name">Lord</span> ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the <span class="name">Lord</span> on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the <span class="name">Lord</span>, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the <span class="name">Lord</span> what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms">d</a></sup></span> of gold for the site. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>David built an altar to the <span class="name">Lord</span> there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the <span class="name">Lord</span>, and the <span class="name">Lord</span> answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>Then the <span class="name">Lord</span> spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>At that time, when David saw that the <span class="name">Lord</span> had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>The tabernacle of the <span class="name">Lord</span>, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/21-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">12</span> <span class="footnotebot">Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate (see also 2 Samuel 24:13) <i>of fleeing</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">15</span> <span class="footnotebot">Hebrew <i>Ornan,</i> a variant of <i>Araunah</i>; also in verses 18-28</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">17</span> <span class="footnotebot">Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see 2 Samuel 24:17 and note); Masoretic Text does not have <i>the shepherd</i>.</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">25</span> <span class="footnotebot">That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.</p><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../1_chronicles/20.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="1 Chronicles 20"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="1 Chronicles 20" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../1_chronicles/22.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="1 Chronicles 22"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="1 Chronicles 22" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/1_chronicles/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenubib2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>