David Counts the People
(2 Samuel 24.1-9)1 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. 15 Then he sent an angel to destroy the city of Jerusalem. But just as the angel was about to do that, the Lord felt sorry for all the suffering he had caused the people, and he told the angel, “Stop! They have suffered enough.” This happened at the threshing place that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite.
16 David saw the Lord's angel in the air, holding a sword over Jerusalem. He and the leaders of Israel, who were all wearing sackcloth, bowed with their faces to the ground, 17 and David prayed, “It's my fault! I sinned by ordering the people to be counted. They have done nothing wrong—they are innocent sheep. Lord God, please punish me and my family. Don't let the disease wipe out your people.”
David Buys Araunah's Threshing Place
(2 Samuel 24.18-25)18 The Lord's angel told the prophet Gad to tell David that he must go to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar in honor of the Lord. 19 David followed the Lord's instructions.
20 Araunah and his four sons were threshing wheat at the time, and when they saw the angel, the four sons ran to hide. 21 Just then, David arrived, and when Araunah saw him, he stopped his work and bowed down.
22 David said, “Would you sell me your threshing place, so I can build an altar on it to the Lord? Then this disease will stop killing the people. I'm willing to pay whatever you say it's worth.”
23 Araunah answered, “Take it, Your Majesty, and do whatever you want with it. I'll even give you the oxen for the sacrifice and the wheat for the grain sacrifice. And you can use the threshing-boards for the fire. It's all yours!”
24 But David replied, “No! I want to pay you what they're worth. I can't just take something from you and then offer the Lord a sacrifice that cost me nothing.”
25 So David paid Araunah 600 gold coins for his threshing place. 26 David built an altar and offered sacrifices to please the Lord and sacrifices to ask his blessing. David prayed, and the Lord answered him by sending fire down on the altar. 27 Then the Lord commanded the angel to put the sword away.
28 When David saw that the Lord had answered his prayer, he offered more sacrifices there at the threshing place, 29-30 because he was afraid of the angel's sword and did not want to go all the way to Gibeon. That's where the sacred tent that Moses had made in the desert was kept, as well as the altar where sacrifices were offered to the Lord.
David ma vara otjiwaṋa
(2Sam 24:1-25)1 Satan wa vanga okueta otjipo motjiwaṋa tja Israel, notja pukisa David kutja a vare ovandu. 2 David wa rakiza ku Joab na kovahongore ovakwao a tja: “Tuurungeye ehi ra Israel arihe okuza kOberseba nga kOdan, mu vare ovandu. Ami me vanga okutjiwa kutja mu novandu vengapi mehi ndi.”
3 Joab wa zira a tja: “Muhona nga takavarise otjiwaṋa tja Israel potumasere komurungu waindu pu tji ṱeki nambano. Muhona ombara, owo avehe ovakarere voye! Okutjavi tji movanga okutjita otjiṋa otja ihi, nokuturisa otjiwaṋa tjoye ondjo?” 4 Nungwari ombara David wa tjita kutja Joab a zuve komarakiza we. Joab otja pita na tuurunga ehi arihe ra Israel, nu tjazumba a kotoka kOjerusalem. 5 Eye wa hepura kombara David otjivaro atjihe tjovarumendu, mba yenena okuyenda kovita: Ovaisrael va ri 1,100,000, nOvajuda va ri 470,000. 6 Omarakiza wombara tjinga aya ri omavi ku Joab, eye otje ha varere omuhoko wa Levi nowa Benjamin.
7 Ndjambi wa nyengwa imbi mbya tjitwa, notja vera Ovaisrael. 8 David wa tja nai ku Ndjambi: “Ami mba tjita ourunde ounene komurungu woye tji mba tjita otjiṋa hi. Arikana, ndji isira; ami mba tjita ouyova.”
9 Muhona wa tja nai ku Gad, ingwi omuprofete wa David: 10 “Twende nu u karaere David kutja ami me mu pe oviṋa vitatu okutoorora. Ami me tjiti ngamwa ihi tji ma toorora.”
11 Gad otja ya ku David ne kemu raera imbi Muhona mbya hungira, na pura a tja: “Mo toorora tjiṋe? 12 Ozombura ndatu zourumbu poo omieze vitatu vyokutaura kovanavita na ove poo omayuva yetatu Muhona mu me ku rwisa nengaruvyo re, nu mu ma hindi omutjise omuzeu mehi roye, ama tjiti kutja omuengeri we a ete onḓiro kombanda ya Israel? Ami hi kazire vi ku Muhona?”
13 David wa zira ku Gad a tja: “Ami mbi ri mombamisiro onene. Hi nokuvanga okuverwa i ovandu. Nungwari Muhona nga rire ngwe ndji vere, eye tjinga e notjari.”
14 Muhona otja hinda omutjise omuzeu motjiwaṋa tja Israel: Nomayovi omirongo hambombari vawo va ṱa. 15 Ndjambi wa hinda omuengeri kutja a nyone Jerusalem wina; nungwari ingwi omuengeri tja ri pokutjinyona, Ndjambi otje rivingurura momutima na tja komuengeri: “Kurama, opuwo!” Omuengeri nai tjandje wa kurama potjitondero tja Arauna, ingwi Omujebusi.
16 David wa muna omuengeri a kurama pokati keyuru nehi, e nengaruvyo meke re, e rirongerere okunyona Jerusalem. David novanane votjiwaṋa tje, avehe mba zarere ovipiriko, va wa onḓurumika, omirungu vyawo amavi ṱunu mehi. 17 David wa kumba a tja: “Ndjambi, owami ngu mba tataiza. Owami ngu mba rakiza inga omavarero. Ovandu ovasyona mba va ungura tjike? Muhona, Ndjambi wandje, vera ami neṱunḓu randje, nu yama otjiwaṋa tjoye.”
18 Nomuengeri wa Muhona wa raera ku Gad, a rakize kutja David a katungire Muhona otjipunguhiro potjitondero tja Arauna, Omujebusi. 19 David wa zuva komarakiza wa Muhona, nai otja Gad punga e mu raerere. 20 Arauna novazandu ve vane aave tondo ovikokotwa. Nowo tji va muna ingwi omuengeri, ovazandu ve otji va tupuka nave kaṱara. 21 Nu Arauna tja muna David a meya kuye, otja isa ihi otjitondero ne ripete onḓurumika, omurungu we amau ṱunu mehi. 22 David wa tja nai ku ye: “Randisa otjitondero tjoye ku ami, mbi tungire po Muhona otjipunguhiro, okutjaera omutjise omuzeu. Ami me ku pe otjisuta tji tja yenene.”
23 Arauna arire tja tja nai ku David: “Otjo ho, kambura, muhona ombara, nu u tjite pu movanga. Ozongombe ozonduwombe zombunguhiro oningiririsiwa ozo nḓa, noviti vyotjitondero okuisapo ozonguṋe, novikokotwa vyombunguhiro yovirya ovyo mbi. Avihe me ku pe.”
24 Nungwari ombara ya zira ai tja: “Ayee, me ku sutu otjisuta tji tja yenene. Ami hi nokuyandja otjiṋa tji tji ri otjoye otja ombunguhiro ku Muhona, otjiṋa tji mbi hi nokusuta.” 25 Neye wa suta Arauna ovimariva ovingoldo omasere hamboumwe. 26 David wa tungira Muhona otjipunguhiro poṋa mbo, na punguhire po ozombunguhiro ozoningiririsiwa nozohange. Eye wa kumba, nu Muhona we mu zira nomuriro mbwa za meyuru nu mbwa ningiririsa ozombunguhiro kotjipunguhiro.
27 Muhona wa raera omuengeri kutja a twe pehi engaruvyo re; nomuengeri wa kara nonḓuviro. 28 David wa muna mu imbi kutja Muhona wa zuvira ongumbiro ye; neye otjaa punguhire ozombunguhiro kotjipunguhiro potjitondero tja Arauna. 29 Moruveze ndo Ondanda yOmahakaeneno ya Muhona, Moses ndja tungire mokuti onguza, notjipunguhiro kuya ku ningiririsirwa ozombunguhiro, tjandje ingee vi ri kondunda mOgibeon. 30 Nungwari David kaa sora okuyenda ngo okukerikotamena ku Ndjambi, tjinga aa tira engaruvyo romuengeri wa Muhona.
