Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 Trembling, the king went up to the room over the gate, weeping and crying, “Oh, my son Avshalom! My son! My son Avshalom! If only I had died instead of you! Oh, Avshalom, my son, my son!”

2 Yo’av was told, “The king is weeping, mourning for Avshalom.”

3 Thus the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said that day that the king was grieving for his son;

4 so that the people entered the city furtively that day, the way that people who are ashamed creep away when fleeing a battlefield.

5 Meanwhile, the king covered his face and cried aloud, “Oh, my son Avshalom! Oh, Avshalom, my son, my son!”

6 Yo’av went inside to the king and said, “Today you made all your servants feel ashamed. They saved your life today, and the lives of your sons, daughters, wives and concubines.

7 But you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. Today you said that princes and servants mean nothing to you — for I can see today that it would have pleased you more if Avshalom had lived today, and we had all died!

8 Now get up, go out and speak heart-to-heart with your servants. For I swear byAdonaithat if you don’t go out, not one man will stay here with you tonight — and that will be worse for you than all the misfortunes you have suffered from your youth until now.”

9 So the king got up and sat in the city gateway; and when all the people were told, “Now the king is sitting in the gate,” they came before the king.

Meanwhile, Isra’el had fled, each man to his tent;

10 and throughout all the tribes of Isra’el there was dissension among all the people. They were saying, “The king delivered us from the power of our enemies, and he saved us from the power of the P’lishtim; but now he has fled the land to escape Avshalom.

11 However, Avshalom, whom we anointed to rule us, is dead in battle. So now, why doesn’t anyone suggest bringing the king back?”

12 King David sent this message to Tzadok and Evyatar thecohanim: “Ask the leaders of Y’hudah, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his palace? The king has already heard that all Isra’el wants to return him to his palace.

13 You are my kinsmen, my flesh and bone; so why are you the last to bring back the king?’

14 Also tell ‘Amasa, ‘You are my flesh and bone. May God bring terrible curses on me and worse ones yet if from now on you are not permanent commander of my army instead of Yo’av.”

15 Thus he turned the hearts of all the men of Y’hudah around as if they were one man, so that they sent a message to the king, “Come back, you and all your servants!”

16 The king started back and arrived at the Yarden, while Y’hudah came to Gilgal in order to meet the king and bring the king over the Yarden.

17 Shim‘i the son of Gera, the Binyamini from Bachurim, hurried and came down with the men of Y’hudah to meet King David.

18 There were a thousand men of Binyamin with him, also Tziva the servant of the house of Sha’ul with his fifteen sons and twenty servants; and they rushed into the Yarden ahead of the king

19 to ferry the king’s household across and do whatever else the king wanted done. Shim‘i the son of Gera fell down before the king when he was ready to cross the Yarden

20 and said to the king, “May my lord not hold me guilty of a crime. Don’t remember the wrong your servant did on the day my lord the king left Yerushalayim. May the king not take it to heart!

21 For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, look — I am the first one of all the house of Yosef to come today and go down to meet my lord the king.”

22 Avishai the son of Tz’ruyah answered, “Shouldn’t Shim‘i be put to death for this? After all, he cursedAdonai’s anointed ruler!”

23 But David said, “What do I have in common with you, you sons of Tz’ruyah? Why have you become my adversaries today? Should anyone in Isra’el be put to death today? Don’t I know that today I am king over Isra’el?”

24 Then the king said to Shim‘i, “You will not be put to death,” and the king swore it to him.

25 M’fivoshet the son of Sha’ul came down to meet the king. He hadn’t cared for his legs, trimmed his beard or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the day he came home in peace.

26 When he came to Yerushalayim to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why didn’t you go with me, M’fivoshet?”

27 He answered, “My lord king, my servant deceived me. I your servant had said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself to ride on and go with the king,’ since your servant is lame.

28 But he slandered me your servant to my lord the king. However, my lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever seems right to you.

29 For all my father’s household deserved death at the hand of my lord the king; nevertheless you placed your servant with those who eat at your own table. I deserve nothing more; so why should I come crying any more to the king?”

30 The king said to him, “Why speak any more about these matters of yours? I say: you and Tziva, divide the land.”

31 M’fivoshet said to the king, “Indeed, let him take it all; for me it’s enough that my lord the king has come home in peace.”

32 Barzillai the Gil‘adi had come down from Roglim and passed on to the Yarden with the king to bring him across the Yarden.

33 Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years old; he had provided for the king’s needs when he was staying at Machanayim; for he was a wealthy man.

34 The king said to Barzillai, “Come on across with me, and I will provide for your needs with me in Yerushalayim.”

35 Barzillai said to the king, “How much longer can I live, that I should go up with the king to Yerushalayim?

36 I am now eighty years old. Can I tell good from bad? Can your servant even taste what he eats or drinks? Can I hear the voice of men and women singing any more? Why should your servant burden my lord the king?

37 Your servant only wants to cross the Yarden with the king; why should the king reward this so generously?

38 Please, just let your servant go back and die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Khimham; let him cross with my lord the king; and do for him whatever seems good to you.”

39 The king answered, “Khimham will cross with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you. Whatever you ask of me, I will do for you.”

40 So all the people crossed the Yarden; and the king crossed too. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him; then he returned to his home.

41 The king crossed over to Gilgal, and Khimham crossed with him. All the people of Y’hudah brought the king across, as did half the people of Isra’el.

42 Now all the men of Isra’el came to the king and said to him, “Why have our kinsmen, the men of Y’hudah, stolen you away and brought the king and his household across the Yarden, and all David’s men with him?”

43 All the men of Y’hudah answered the men of Isra’el, “Because the king is our close relative. Why are you angry about this? Have we eaten anything at the king’s expense? Has any gift been given to us?”

44 The men of Isra’el answered the men of Y’hudah, “We have ten shares in the king; also we have more right in David than you. So why did you despise us? Weren’t we the first to suggest bringing our king back?” But the men of Y’hudah spoke more vehemently than the men of Isra’el.

1 There happened to be there a scoundrel whose name was Sheva the son of Bikhri, a Binyamini. He sounded theshofarand said, “We have no share in David, no inheritance in the son of Yishai; so, Isra’el, every man to his tent!”

2 All the men of Isra’el left off following David and went after Sheva the son of Bikhri. But the men of Y’hudah stuck with their king, from the Yarden to Yerushalayim.

3 When David arrived at his palace in Yerushalayim, the king took the ten women who were his concubines, whom he had left to care for the palace, and put them under guard. He provided for their needs but never slept with them again. They were kept in confinement until the day of their death, living like widows with their husband still alive.

4 The king said to ‘Amasa, “Summon the men of Y’hudah to come to me within three days; and you, be here too.”

5 ‘Amasa went to summon the men of Y’hudah but took longer than the time he had been given.

6 David said to Avishai, “Sheva the son of Bikhri is going to do us more harm than Avshalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he won’t take over fortified cities and escape us.”

7 With him went Yo’av’s men, the K’reti, the P’leti and all the experienced soldiers; they left Yerushalayim in pursuit of Sheva the son of Bikhri.

8 On arrival at the big rock in Giv‘on, ‘Amasa came to meet them. Yo’av was wearing his battle clothes, over which he had girded a belt with a sheathed sword; but as he came forward it fell out.

9 Yo’av said to ‘Amasa, “Is it going well with you, my brother? Then, with his right hand, Yo’av took ‘Amasa by the beard to kiss him.

10 ‘Amasa took no notice of the sword in Yo’av’s hand, so Yo’av stabbed him in the groin. His insides poured out on the ground, and he died without being stabbed a second time.

Yo’av and Avishai his brother continued in pursuit of Sheva the son of Bikhri.

11 One of Yo’av’s young men standing by Yo’av said, “Whoever is on Yo’av’s side, whoever is for David — let him follow Yo’av.”

12 ‘Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road; so that as the troops came up, they all halted there. When the man saw that all the people were standing still, he dragged ‘Amasa off the road into the field and threw a cloak over him.

13 Once he had been removed from the road, all the troops went on after Yo’av, to pursue Sheva the son of Bikhri.

14 Sheva went through all the tribes of Isra’el, to Avel and Beit-Ma‘akhah, and to all the Berim; they assembled and followed him.

15 Yo’av’s troops came and put him under siege in Avel of Beit-Ma‘akhah — they put up a ramp in the moat against the city wall; and all the people with Yo’av battered the wall in order to bring it down.

16 Then a wise woman in the city shouted, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Yo’av, ‘Come over here, so that I can speak with you.’”

17 He approached her, and the woman asked, “Are you Yo’av?” He answered, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to what your servant has to say.” He answered, “I’m listening.”

18 Then she said, “In the old days they used to say, ‘They will ask advice at Avel’; and that would end the discussion.

19 We are among those in Isra’el who are peaceful and faithful. Why are you destroying a city and a mother in Isra’el? Why swallow up the inheritance ofAdonai?”

20 Yo’av answered, “Heaven forbid! Heaven forbid that I should swallow or destroy anything!

21 That’s not how it is. Rather, a man from the hills of Efrayim, Sheva the son of Bikhri, has raised his hand against the king, against David. Just turn him over to me, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Yo’av, “All right, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise plan. They cut off the head of Sheva the son of Bikhri and threw it out to Yo’av. So he sounded theshofar, and they left the city, sending each man to his tent; while Yo’av returned to the king in Yerushalayim.

23 Once again Yo’av was commander over the whole army of Isra’el, while B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada was over the K’reti and P’leti,

24 Adoram was in charge of forced labor, Y’hoshafat the son of Achilud was secretary of state,

25 Sh’va was recorder, Tzadok and Evyatar werecohanim,

26 and ‘Ira the Ya’iri was David’scohen.

1 In David’s time there was a famine that lasted three years, and David consultedAdonai.Adonaisaid, “It is because of Sha’ul and his bloodstained house, because he put to death the people of Giv‘on.”

2 The king summoned the Giv‘onim and said to them — these Giv‘onim were not part of the people of Isra’el but from the remnant of the Emori; and the people of Isra’el had sworn to them; but Sha’ul, in his zeal for the people of Isra’el and Y’hudah, had sought to exterminate them —

3 David said to the Giv‘onim, “What should I do for you? With what should I make atonement, so that you will be able to blessAdonai’s heritage?”

4 The Giv‘onim said to him, “Our dispute with Sha’ul can’t be resolved with silver or gold; and we don’t have the right to put anyone in Isra’el to death.” He said, “So, what do you say that I should do for you?”

5 They answered the king, “The man who ruined us, who schemed against us so that we would cease to exist anywhere in Isra’el’s territory —

6 have seven of his male descendants handed over to us, and we will put them to death by hanging beforeAdonaiin Giv‘ah of Sha’ul, whomAdonaichose.” The king said, “I will hand them over.”

7 But the king spared M’fivoshet, the son of Y’honatan the son of Sha’ul, because of the oath beforeAdonaibetween David and Y’honatan the son of Sha’ul.

8 The king took the two sons of Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, whom she bore to Sha’ul, Armoni and M’fivoshet; and the five sons of Mikhal the daughter of Sha’ul, whom she bore to Adri’el the son of Barzillai the Mecholati;

9 and handed them over to the Giv‘onim, who hanged them on the hill beforeAdonai. All seven died; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest season, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

10 Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, spread it out toward a cliff for herself and stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until water was poured out on the bodies from the sky, not letting the birds land on them during the day or the wild animals at night.

11 David was told what Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, the concubine of Sha’ul, had done.

12 So David went and took the bones of Sha’ul and the bones of Y’honatan his son from the men of Yavesh-Gil‘ad, who had stolen them from the open square of Beit-Sh’an, where the P’lishtim had hanged them at the time the P’lishtim had killed Sha’ul at Gilboa;

13 and he brought up from there the bones of Sha’ul and the bones of Y’honatan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.

14 Then they buried the bones of Sha’ul and Y’honatan his son in the territory of Binyamin in Tzela, in the tomb of Kish his father; they did everything the king ordered. Only after that was God prevailed on to show mercy to the land.

15 Once again the P’lishtim made war on Isra’el. David went down with his servants and fought against the P’lishtim, but David began to get tired.

16 Yishbi-B’nov, one of the sons of the giant, said that he would kill David; his spear weighed seven pounds, and he was wearing new armor.

17 But Avishai the son of Tz’ruyah came to David’s rescue by striking the P’lishti and killing him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must no longer go out with us to battle, in order not to quench the lamp of Isra’el.”

18 A while after this there was again war with the P’lishtim, at Gov. Sibkhai the Hushati killed Saf, one of the sons of the giant.

19 There was more war with the P’lishtim at Gov; and Elchanan the son of Ya‘arei-Orgim, the Beit-Lachmi, killed Golyat the Gitti, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s beam.

20 There was again war at Gat, where there was a belligerent man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot — twenty-four in all — and he too was a son of the giant.

21 When he mocked Isra’el, Y’honatan the son of Shim‘ah David’s brother killed him.

22 These four were sons of the giant in Gat; they fell at the hands of David and his servants.

1 David said the words of this song toAdonaion the dayAdonaidelivered him from the power of all his enemies and from the power of Sha’ul.

2 He said:

“Adonaiis my Rock, my fortress and deliverer,

3 the God who is my Rock, in whom I find shelter,

my shield, the power that saves me,

my stronghold and my refuge.

My savior, you have saved me from violence.

4 I call onAdonai, who is worthy of praise;

and I am saved from my enemies.

5 “For death’s breakers were closing over me,

the floods of B’liya‘al terrified me,

6 the ropes of Sh’ol were wrapped around me,

the snares of death lay there before me.

7 In my distress I called toAdonai;

yes, I called to my God.

Out of his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry entered his ears.

8 “Then the earth quaked and shook,

the foundations of heaven trembled.

They were shaken because he was angry.

9 Smoke arose in his nostrils;

and from his mouth, devouring fire,

with coals blazing from it.

10 He lowered heaven and came down

with thick darkness under his feet.

11 He rode on akeruvand flew,

he was seen on the wings of the wind.

12 He made darkness his canopy around him,

thick clouds in the skies dense with water.

13 From the brightness before him,

fiery coals flamed out.

14 “Adonaithundered from heaven,

Ha‘Elyonsounded his voice.

15 He sent out arrows and scattered them;

with lightning he routed them.

16 The channels of the sea appeared,

the foundations of the world were exposed

atAdonai’s rebuke,

at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

17 “He sent from on high, he took me

and pulled me out of deep water;

18 he rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from those who hated me, for they were stronger than I.

19 They came against me on my day of calamity,

butAdonaiwas my support.

20 “He brought me out to an open place;

he rescued me, because he took pleasure in me.

21 Adonairewarded me for my uprightness,

he repaid me because my hands were clean.

22 “For I have kept the ways ofAdonai,

I have not done evil by leaving my God;

23 for all his rulings were before me,

I did not depart from his regulations.

24 I was pure-hearted toward him

and kept myself from my sin.

25 “HenceAdonairepaid me for my uprightness,

according to my purity in his view.

26 With the merciful, you are merciful;

with the champion of purity, you are pure;

27 with the honest, you are honest;

but with the crooked you are cunning.

28 People afflicted, you save;

but when your eyes are on the haughty, you humble them.

29 “For you,Adonai, are my lamp;

Adonailights up my darkness.

30 With you I can run through a whole troop of men,

with my God I can leap a wall.

31 “As for God, his way is perfect,

the word ofAdonaihas been tested by fire;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

32 For who is God butAdonai,

and who is a Rock but our God?

33 “God is my strength and protection;

he makes my way go straight.

34 He makes me swift and sure-footed as a deer

and enables me to stand on my high places.

35 He trains my hands for war

until my arms can bend a bow of bronze;

36 You give me your shield, which is salvation;

your answers make me great.

37 You lengthen the steps I can take,

yet my ankles do not turn.

38 “I pursued my enemies and wiped them out,

without turning back until they were destroyed.

39 I destroyed them, crushed them; they can’t get up;

they have fallen under my feet.

40 “For you braced me with strength for the battle

and bent down my adversaries beneath me.

41 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

so that I could destroy those who hate me.

42 “They looked, but there was no one to help,

even toAdonai, but he didn’t answer.

43 I pulverized them like dust on the ground,

pounded and stamped on them like mud in the streets.

44 “You also freed me from the quarrels of my people.

You kept me to be the head of the nations;

a people I did not know now serve me.

45 Foreigners come cringing to me;

the moment they hear of me, they obey me.

46 Foreigners lose heart as they stagger from their fortresses.

47 “Adonaiis alive! Blessed is my Rock!

Exalted be God, the Rock of my salvation,

48 the God who gives me vengeance

and makes peoples submit to me.

49 He brings me out from my enemies.

You raise me over those who rebel against me,

you rescue me from violent men.

50 “So I give thanks to you,Adonai, among the nations;

I sing praises to your name.

51 He is a tower of salvation for his king;

he displays grace to his anointed,

to David and his descendants forever.”

1 Here are David’s last words:

“This is the speech of David the son of Yishai,

the speech of the man who has been raised up,

the one anointed by the God of Ya‘akov,

the sweet singer of Isra’el.

2 “The Spirit ofAdonaispoke through me,

his word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Isra’el spoke;

the Rock of Isra’el said to me,

‘A ruler over people must be upright,

ruling in the fear of God;

4 like the morning light at sunrise

on a cloudless day

that makes the grass on the earth

sparkle after a rain.’

5 “For my house stands firm with God —

he made an everlasting covenant with me.

It is in order, fully assured,

that he will bring to full growth

all my salvation and every desire.

6 “But the ungodly are like thorn bushes

to be pushed aside, every one of them.

They cannot be taken in one’s hand;

7 To touch them one uses pitchfork or spear-shaft,

and then only to burn them where they lie.”

8 Following are the names of David’s warrior-heroes:

Yoshev-Bashevet the Tach’kmoni, chief of the three, also known as ‘Adino the ‘Etzni; he is the one who came against 800 men, whom he killed in a single encounter.

9 After him was El‘azar the son of Dodo the son of Achochi, one of the three warriors with David when they put their lives in jeopardy against the P’lishtim who were there assembled for battle, while the men of Isra’el had gone away.

10 He stood firm and attacked the P’lishtim until his hand went into spasm, so that he couldn’t let go of his sword.Adonaiaccomplished a great victory that day; but the people didn’t return until he had finished, and then only to plunder the bodies of the dead.

11 After him was Shammah the son of Age the Harari. The P’lishtim had assembled at Lechi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the P’lishtim.

12 But he stood in the middle of the plot and defended it, killing the P’lishtim; andAdonaibrought about a great victory.

13 During harvest season three of the thirty leaders went down and came to David at the cave of ‘Adulam when a company of P’lishtim had set up camp in the Refa’im Valley.

14 At that time David was in the fortress, and the garrison of the P’lishtim was in Beit-Lechem.

15 David had a craving and said, “I wish someone could give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Beit-Lechem!”

16 The three warrior-heroes broke through the army of the P’lishtim, drew water from the well by the gate of Beit-Lechem, took it and brought it to David. But he wouldn’t drink it. Instead, he poured it out toAdonai

17 and said, “Adonai! Heaven forbid that I should do such a thing! Am I to drink the blood of men who went and put their lives in jeopardy?”— and he would not consent to drink it. These are the things the three warrior-heroes did.

18 Avishai the brother of Yo’av, the son of Tz’ruyah, was chief of these three. He raised his spear against 300 men and killed them; thus he had a reputation even among the three.

19 He had the most honor of these three and was therefore made their leader; however, he did not achieve the status of the first three.

20 B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada, the son of a valiant man of Kavtze’el, was a man of many exploits. He struck down two lion-hearted men of Mo’av. One day when it was snowing, he went down into a pit and killed a lion.

21 Here is how he killed an Egyptian, a man of intimidating appearance: the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, and he went down to him with only a stick, seized the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

22 These are things that B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada did that earned him a name among the three warrior-heroes.

23 He had more honor than the thirty, but he did not achieve the status of the first three. David put him in command of his personal guard.

24 ‘Asah’el the brother of Yo’av was one of the thirty,

Elchanan the son of Dodo of Beit-Lechem,

25 Shammah the Harodi,

Elika the Harodi,

26 Heletz the Palti,

‘Ira son of ‘Ikesh from T’koa,

27 Avi‘ezer from ‘Anatot,

M’vunai the Hushati,

28 Tzalmon the Achochi,

Mahrai the N’tofati,

29 Helev the son of Ba‘anah the N’tofati,

Ittai the son of Rivai from Giv‘ah, of the people of Binyamin,

30 B’nayahu from Pir‘aton,

Hiddai from thevadis of Ga‘ash,

31 Avi-‘Alvon the ‘Arvati,

‘Azmavet the Barchumi,

32 Elyachba the Sha‘alvoni, of the sons of Yashen,

Y’honatan,

33 Shammah the Harari,

Achi’am the son of Sharar the Arari,

34 Elifelet the son of Achasbai the son of the Ma‘akhati,

Eli‘am the son of Achitofel from Giloh,

35 Hetzrai from Karmel,

Pa‘arai the Arbi,

36 Yig’al the son of Natan of Tzovah,

Bani the Gadi,

37 Tzelek the ‘Amoni,

Nachrai the Be’eroti, armor-bearer for Yo’av the son of Tz’ruyah,

38 ‘Ira the Yitri,

Garev the Yitri, and

39 Uriyah the Hitti —

thirty-seven in all.

1 The anger ofAdonaiblazed up against Isra’el, so he moved David to act against them by saying, “Go, take a census of Isra’el and Y’hudah.”

2 The king said to Yo’av the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go systematically through all the tribes of Isra’el, from Dan to Be’er-Sheva; and take a census of the population; so that I can know how many people there are.”

3 Yo’av said to the king, “MayAdonaiyour God add to the people a hundredfold, no matter how many there are; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this?”

4 However, the king’s word prevailed against Yo’av and the army officers. So Yo’av and the army officers went out from the king’s presence to take a census of the people of Isra’el.

5 They crossed the Yarden and pitched camp in ‘Aro‘er, to the south of the city in theVadiof Gad; went on to Ya‘zer;

6 came to Gil‘ad and continued to the land of Tachtim-Hodshi. Then they arrived at Dan-Ya‘an, went around to Tzidon

7 and came to the stronghold of Tzor. They went on to the cities of the Hivi and of the Kena‘ani, and finished in the south of Y’hudah, at Be’er-Sheva.

8 When they were done going through all the land, they came back to Yerushalayim; it had taken nine months and twenty days.

9 Yo’av reported the results of the census to the king: there were in Isra’el 800,000 valiant men who could handle a sword, while the men of Y’hudah numbered 500,000.

10 But after he had taken the census, David was conscience-stricken. David said toAdonai, “I have greatly sinned in what I have done. But now,Adonai, please! Put aside your servant’s sin, for I have done a very foolish thing.”

11 When David got up in the morning, this word ofAdonaicame to the prophet Gad, David’s seer:

12 “Go and say to David that this is whatAdonaisays: ‘I am giving you a choice of three punishments. Choose one of them, and I will execute it against you.”

13 Gad came to David and told him; he said: “Do you want seven years of famine in your land? or do you want to flee before your enemies for three months while they pursue you? or do you want three days of plague in your land? Think about it, and tell me what to answer the one who sent me.”

14 David said to Gad, “This is very hard for me. Let us fall into the hand ofAdonai, because his mercies are great, rather than have me fall into the hand of man.”

15 SoAdonaisent a plague on Isra’el from that morning until the end of the specified time; 70,000 of the people died between Dan and Be’er-Sheva.

16 But when the angel stretched out his hand toward Yerushalayim to destroy it,Adonaichanged his mind about causing such distress and said to the angel destroying the people, “Enough! Now withdraw your hand.” The angel ofAdonaiwas at the threshing-floor of Aravnah the Y’vusi.

17 David spoke toAdonaiwhen he saw the angel striking the people; he said, “Here, I have sinned, I have done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please! Let your hand be against me and against my father’s family!”

18 Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go, set up an altar toAdonaion the threshing-floor of Aravnah the Y’vusi.”

19 David went up and did what Gad had said, asAdonaihad ordered.

20 Aravnah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. Aravnah went out and prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground.

21 Then Aravnah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy your threshing-floor, in order to build an altar toAdonai, so that the plague will be lifted from the people.”

22 Aravnah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up anything that seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering; you can use the threshing-sledges and the yokes for the oxen as firewood.

23 All this, O king, Aravnah gives to the king.” Then Aravnah said to the king, “MayAdonaiyour God accept you.”

24 But the king said to Aravnah, “No; I insist on buying it from you at a price. I refuse to offer toAdonaimy God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for one-and-a-quarter pounds of silvershekels.

25 Then David built an altar toAdonaithere and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this,Adonaitook pity on the land and lifted the plague from Isra’el.