2 Samuel 22-24

David’s Song of Deliverance

22 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ² He said,

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
³     my^[a] God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my savior; you save me from violence.
⁴ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵ “For the waves of death encompassed me,
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;^[b]
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

⁷ “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry came to his ears.

⁸ “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations of the heavens trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
⁹ Smoke went up from his nostrils,^[c]
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
¹⁰ He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
¹¹ He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he was seen on the wings of the wind.
¹² He made darkness around him his canopy,
    thick clouds, a gathering of water.
¹³ Out of the brightness before him
    coals of fire flamed forth.
¹⁴ The Lord thundered from heaven,
    and the Most High uttered his voice.
¹⁵ And he sent out arrows and scattered them;
    lightning, and routed them.
¹⁶ Then the channels of the sea were seen;
    the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷ “He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁸ He rescued me from my strong enemy,
    from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
²⁰ He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

²¹ “The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²³ For all his rules were before me,
    and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
²⁴ I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from guilt.
²⁵ And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to my cleanness in his sight.

²⁶ “With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁷ with the purified you deal purely,
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁸ You save a humble people,
    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
²⁹ For you are my lamp, O Lord,
    and my God lightens my darkness.
³⁰ For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
³¹ This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³² “For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?
³³ This God is my strong refuge
    and has made my^[d] way blameless.^[e]
34 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
³⁵ He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁶ You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your gentleness made me great.
³⁷ You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet^[f] did not slip;
³⁸ I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
    and did not turn back until they were consumed.
³⁹ I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
    they fell under my feet.
⁴⁰ For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴¹ You made my enemies turn their backs to me,^[g]
    those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
⁴² They looked, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴³ I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;
    I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴ “You delivered me from strife with my people;^[h]
    you kept me as the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners came cringing to me;
    as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
⁴⁶ Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling^[i] out of their fortresses.

⁴⁷ “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
⁴⁸ the God who gave me vengeance
    and brought down peoples under me,
⁴⁹ who brought me out from my enemies;
    you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from men of violence.

⁵⁰ “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing praises to your name.
⁵¹ Great salvation he brings^[j] to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.”

The Last Words of David

23 Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
    the oracle of the man who was raised on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
    the sweet psalmist of Israel:^[k]

² “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;
    his word is on my tongue.
³ The God of Israel has spoken;
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
    ruling in the fear of God,
⁴ he dawns on them like the morning light,
    like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
    like rain^[l] that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

⁵ “For does not my house stand so with God?
    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?
⁶ But worthless men^[m] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
    for they cannot be taken with the hand;
⁷ but the man who touches them
    arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
    and they are utterly consumed with fire.”^[n]

David’s Mighty Men

⁸ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three.^[o] He wielded his spear^[p] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.

⁹ And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. ¹⁰ He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

¹¹ And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi,^[q] where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

¹³ And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁶ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord ¹⁷ and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁸ Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty.^[r] And he wielded his spear against three hundred men^[s] and killed them and won a name beside the three. ¹⁹ He was the most renowned of the thirty^[t] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.

²⁰ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man^[u] of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels^[v] of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. ²¹ And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. ²³ He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

²⁴ Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵ Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, ²⁷ Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³ Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵ Hezro^[w] of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David’s Census

24 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,^[x] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer,^[y] and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;^[z] and they came to Dan, and from Dan^[aa] they went around to Sidon, ⁷ and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord’s Judgment of David’s Sin

¹⁰ But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” ¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer^[ab] 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 three^[ac] 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, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. ¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of 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 Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. ²¹ And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people.” ²² Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” ²⁴ But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels^[ad] of silver. ²⁵ And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 22:3 Septuagint (compare Psalm 18:2); Hebrew lacks my
2. 2 Samuel 22:5 Or terrified me
3. 2 Samuel 22:9 Or in his wrath
4. 2 Samuel 22:33 Or his; also verse 34
5. 2 Samuel 22:33 Compare Psalm 18:32; Hebrew he has blamelessly set my way free, or he has made my way spring up blamelessly
6. 2 Samuel 22:37 Hebrew ankles
7. 2 Samuel 22:41 Or You gave me my enemies’ necks
8. 2 Samuel 22:44 Septuagint with the peoples
9. 2 Samuel 22:46 Compare Psalm 18:45; Hebrew equipped themselves
10. 2 Samuel 22:51 Or He is a tower of salvation
11. 2 Samuel 23:1 Or the favorite of the songs of Israel
12. 2 Samuel 23:4 Hebrew from rain
13. 2 Samuel 23:6 Hebrew worthlessness
14. 2 Samuel 23:7 Hebrew consumed with fire in the sitting
15. 2 Samuel 23:8 Or of the captains
16. 2 Samuel 23:8 Compare 1 Chronicles 11:11; the meaning of the Hebrew expression is uncertain
17. 2 Samuel 23:11 Or gathered together as a camp
18. 2 Samuel 23:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts three
19. 2 Samuel 23:18 Or slain ones
20. 2 Samuel 23:19 Compare 1 Chronicles 11:21; Hebrew Was he the most renowned of the three?
21. 2 Samuel 23:20 Or the son of Ishhai
22. 2 Samuel 23:20 The meaning of the word ariel is uncertain
23. 2 Samuel 23:35 Or Hezrai
24. 2 Samuel 24:2 Septuagint to Joab and the commanders of the army
25. 2 Samuel 24:5 Septuagint; Hebrew encamped in Aroer
26. 2 Samuel 24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew to the land of Tahtim-hodshi
27. 2 Samuel 24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew they came to Dan-jaan and
28. 2 Samuel 24:12 Or hold over
29. 2 Samuel 24:13 Compare 1 Chronicles 21:12, Septuagint; Hebrew seven
30. 2 Samuel 24:24 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

Praise for God’s Deliverance

22 Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ² And he said:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
³ The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn^[a] of my salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.
⁴ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

⁵ “When the waves of death surrounded me,
The floods of ungodliness ^[b]made me afraid.
⁶ The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
⁷ In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry entered His ears.

⁸ “Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of ^[c]heaven quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
⁹ Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
¹⁰ He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
¹¹ He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
And He ^[d]was seen upon the wings of the wind.
¹² He made darkness canopies around Him,
Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
¹³ From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴ “The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
¹⁵ He sent out arrows and scattered them;
Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.
¹⁶ Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered,
At the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

¹⁷ “He sent from above, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁸ He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me;
For they were too strong for me.
¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
²⁰ He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

²¹ “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
²³ For all His judgments were before me;
And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
²⁴ I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
²⁵ Therefore the Lord has ^[e]recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to ^[f]my cleanness in His eyes.

²⁶ “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
²⁷ With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
²⁸ You will save the humble^[g] people;
But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.

²⁹ “For You are my lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.
³⁰ For by You I can run against a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
³¹ As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

³² “For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
^33 [h]God is my strength and power,
And He makes ^[i]my way perfect.
³⁴ He makes ^[j]my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
³⁵ He teaches my hands ^[k]to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶ “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
³⁷ You enlarged my path under me;
So my feet did not slip.

³⁸ “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
³⁹ And I have destroyed them and wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
⁴⁰ For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have ^[l]subdued under me those who rose against me.
⁴¹ You have also ^[m]given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
⁴² They looked, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
⁴³ Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I trod them like dirt in the streets,
And I ^[n]spread them out.

⁴⁴ “You have also delivered me from the ^[o]strivings of my people;
You have kept me as the head of the nations.
A people I have not known shall serve me.
⁴⁵ The foreigners submit to me;
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
⁴⁶ The foreigners fade away,
And ^[p]come frightened from their hideouts.

⁴⁷ “The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let God be exalted,
The Rock of my salvation!
⁴⁸ It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
⁴⁹ He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
⁵⁰ Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.

⁵¹ “He is the tower of salvation to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.”

David’s Last Words

23 Now these are the last words of David.

Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

² “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
³ The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.
⁴ And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.’

⁵ “Although my house is not so with God,
Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things and secure.
For this is all my salvation and all my desire;
Will He not make it increase?
⁶ But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with hands.
⁷ But the man who touches them
Must be ^[q]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”

David’s Mighty Men

⁸ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: ^[r]Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among ^[s]the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time. ⁹ And after him was Eleazar the son of ^[t]Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. ¹⁰ He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder. ¹¹ And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³ Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁷ And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.

These things were done by the three mighty men.

¹⁸ Now Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of ^[u]another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. ¹⁹ Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.

²⁰ Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, ^[v]who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. ²¹ And he killed an Egyptian, ^[w]a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. ²³ He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁴ Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵ Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷ Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash, ³¹ Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan, ³³ Shammah the ^[x]Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^35 [y]Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), ³⁸ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David’s Census of Israel and Judah

24 Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, ^[z]number Israel and Judah.”

² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”

³ And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless the king’s word ^[aa]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

⁵ And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon; ⁷ and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

The Judgment on David’s Sin

¹⁰ And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

¹¹ Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹² “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven^[ab] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. ¹⁶ And when the ^[ac]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^[ad]Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

The Altar on the Threshing Floor

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”

²² Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. ²³ All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.”

And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 22:3 Strength
2. 2 Samuel 22:5 Or overwhelmed
3. 2 Samuel 22:8 So with MT, LXX, Tg.; Syr., Vg. hills (cf. Ps. 18:7)
4. 2 Samuel 22:11 So with MT, LXX; many Heb. mss., Syr., Vg. flew (cf. Ps. 18:10); Tg. spoke with power
5. 2 Samuel 22:25 rewarded
6. 2 Samuel 22:25 LXX, Syr., Vg. the cleanness of my hands in His sight (cf. Ps. 18:24); Tg. my cleanness before His word
7. 2 Samuel 22:28 afflicted
8. 2 Samuel 22:33 DSS, LXX, Syr., Vg. It is God who arms me with strength (cf. Ps. 18:32); Tg. It is God who sustains me with strength
9. 2 Samuel 22:33 So with Qr., LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. Ps. 18:32); Kt. His
10. 2 Samuel 22:34 So with Qr., LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. Ps. 18:33); Kt. His
11. 2 Samuel 22:35 Lit. for the war
12. 2 Samuel 22:40 Lit. caused to bow down
13. 2 Samuel 22:41 given me victory over
14. 2 Samuel 22:43 scattered
15. 2 Samuel 22:44 contentions
16. 2 Samuel 22:46 So with LXX, Tg., Vg. (cf. Ps. 18:45); MT gird themselves
17. 2 Samuel 23:7 Lit. filled
18. 2 Samuel 23:8 Lit. One Who Sits in the Seat (1 Chr. 11:11)
19. 2 Samuel 23:8 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Vg. the three
20. 2 Samuel 23:9 Dodai, 1 Chr. 27:4
21. 2 Samuel 23:18 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; some Heb. mss., Syr. thirty; Tg. the mighty men
22. 2 Samuel 23:20 Lit. great of acts
23. 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit. a man of appearance
24. 2 Samuel 23:33 Or Ararite
25. 2 Samuel 23:35 Hezro, 1 Chr. 11:37
26. 2 Samuel 24:1 take a census of
27. 2 Samuel 24:4 overruled
28. 2 Samuel 24:13 So with MT, Syr., Tg., Vg.; LXX three (cf. 1 Chr. 21:12)
29. 2 Samuel 24:16 Or Angel
30. 2 Samuel 24:16 Ornan, 1 Chr. 21:15