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 ta yalula oshigwana
(2 Sam. 24:1-25)1 Satana okwa halele, a tule Aaisraeli momupya, nokwa tokolitha David, a yalulithe oshigwana. 2 David okwa lombwele Joab nomalenga omakwawo ta ti: “Indeni naIsrael alihe okuza kooha dhoshilongo sigo okooha oonkwawo, ne mu yalule aantu. Onda hala okutseya mpoka ye thike.”
3 Joab okwa yamukula a ti: “Omuwa na indjipaleke Aaisraeli lwethele ye vulithe pumboka ye li po ngashingeyi! Nkeyama, ayehe aantu yoye ndishi. Omolwashike wa hala okulonga shika, u yonithe oshigwana ashihe?” 4 Ihe omukwaniilwa okwe mu vulikitha nelombwelo lye. Joab okwa yi te endagula noshilongo ashihe shaIsrael e ta galukile kuJerusalem. 5 Okwe eta komukwaniilwa David omwaalu aguhe kumwe gwaalumentu ya gwana okuhinga iita: 1 100 000 muIsrael na 470 000 muJuda. 6 Molwashoka Joab okwa li u uvite nayi molwelaka lyomukwaniilwa, ina yalula we omazimo gaLevi nogaBenjamin.
7 Kalunga ka li a hokwa shoka sha ningwa, onkee a geele Israel. 8 David okwa ti kuKalunga: “Onda yono nayi kungoye, sho nda ningi ngeyi! Kwatha ndje u dhimine ndje po. Onda ningi uugoya!”
9 Nena Omuwa okwa ti kuGad, omuhunganeki gwaDavid: 10 “Inda, u ka lombwele David kutya otandi mu pe oompito ndatu, a hogolole po yimwe. Otandi ka gwanitha ndjoka ta hogolola.”
11 Gad okwa yi kuDavid e te mu hokololele shoka Omuwa a ti e ta pula: “Oshike tashi kala po? 12 Omimvo ndatu dhondjala yekomba? Nenge oomwedhi ndatu hamu yaayaa ontuku aatondi yeni? Nenge omasiku gatatu moka Omuwa te mu ponokele negongamwele lye nota tumu elega moshilongo sheni ta longitha omuyengeli gwe mokweetela muIsrael eso? Tokola, opo ndi fale eyamukulo kOmuwa.”
13 David okwa yamukula Gad a ti: “Ngame ondi li muudhigu uunene! Ihe ine hala ndi geelwe kaantu. Omuwa oye mwene ne tu geele, oshoka oye omunahenda.”
14 Osho ngaaka Omuwa okwa tumu elega mAaisraeli, nomayuvi omilongo heyali gomuyo oya si. 15 Omuwa okwa tumu omuyengeli, a hanagule po Jerusalem, ihe okwa geyuluka e ta ti komuyengeli: “Opuwo nduno! Sha gwana!” Omuyengeli okwa li a thikama polupale lwaArauna Omuyebusi.
16 David okwa mono omuyengeli a thikama mewangandjo a yelutha egongamwele moshikaha she, opo a hanagule po Jerusalem. Nena David naakuluntu yoshigwana — ayehe mboka oya li ya zala omahahi — oyi isizimike ya tsa iipala yawo mevi. 17 David okwa galikana a ti: “Kalunga, ongame ngoka nda yono. Ongame nda gandja elaka, aantu ya yalulwe. Aathigona mbano oya ningi shike? Omuwa, Kalunga kandje, geela ndje negumbo lyandje nou hupithe aantu yoye”.
18 Omuyengeli gwOmuwa okwa lombwele Gad, a ka lombwele David, a ka tungile Omuwa oshiyambelo polupale lwaArauna. 19 David okwa vulika kelaka lyOmuwa e ta yi ko, ngaashi Gad e mu lombwele. 20 Arauna noyanamati yane oya li taa yungula iilya polupale. Sho ya mono omuyengeli, aamati oya fadhuka po noya holama. 21 Arauna sho a mono omukwaniilwa David ta hedha ko, okwa zi po polupale e ti isizimike a tsa oshipala she mevi. 22 David okwa ti kuye: “Kwatha ndje ndi lande po olupale lwoye, opo ndi tungile po Omuwa oshiyambelo, elega li kodhe. Otandi ku pe ofuto ya gwana po.”
23 Arauna okwa ti: “Nkeyama, lu kutha po, u ninge shoka wa hala. Oonani odho ndhika dhokulungunithilwa omayambo koshiyambelo, niiyungulitho oyo mbika, yi longitha iitemitho, niilya yi ninge omayambo. Ayihe otandi yi gandja kungoye.”
24 Ihe omukwaniilwa okwa yamukula a ti: “Aawe, otandi landa lela. Itandi gandja omayambo kOmuwa shoka shoye, shoka inaashi pula ndje sha.” 25 Okwa futu Arauna molwolupale lwe iimaliwa yoshingoli omathele gahamano. 26 Okwa tungile po Omuwa oshiyambelo e ta yambele ko omafikilondjambo nomakwatathanondjambo. Okwa galikana, nOmuwa okwe mu yamukula, sho a tumu omulilo gwa gu megulu e tagu lungunitha po oondjambo koshiyambelo.
27 Omuwa okwa lombwele omuyengeli, a shune mo egongamwele lye molumpangwa. 28 David okwa mono mushika kutya Omuwa okwa yamukula omagalikano ge, onkee okwa yamba oondjambo koshiyambelo polupale lwaArauna. 29 Etsalihangano lyOmuwa ndyoka Moses a tungile mombuga, noshiyambelo hoka haku lungunithilwa oondjambo, oya li natango peha lyelongelokalunga muGibeon pethimbo ndika, 30 ihe David ka li ta vulu okuya ko, a ka simaneke Kalunga, oshoka okwa li a tila egongamwele lyomuyengeli ngaashi Gad e mu lombwele.
