1Then Satan (as the adversary of Israel), enticed David to number Israel. 2And David told Joab and the rulers of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan; and bring the number of them to me.” 3And Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His people a hundred times more than they are now; but, my lord the king, are they not all your servants? Why then do you require this thing? Why bring this guilt upon Israel?” 4But the king insisted; and so, Joab reluctantly went throughout all Israel, then returned to Jerusalem. 5And Joab reported the number of fighting men to David: In all, there were a million one hundred thousand men who could wield a sword; and those of Judah were four hundred ninety thousand. 6But Joab did not count those of Levi and Benjamin; for he found the king's order detestable.

7And God was displeased with this prideful act; so He punished Israel. 8And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this; but now, I beg You, take away my guilt; for I have done very foolishly.” 9And the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer, 10“Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I offer you three options; choose one of them, that I may carry it out against you.”’” 11So Gad came to David, and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose for yourself: 12Either three years' famine; three months of defeat before your foes, with the sword of your enemies prevailing against you; or else three days the sword of the LORD – days of plague and pestilence, in the land, with the Angel of the LORD bringing destruction throughout all Israel.’ Now, then, consider what answer I shall give to Him Who sent me.” 13And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress! Let me fall into the hand of the LORD; for very great are His mercies. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

14So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel; and seventy-thousand of Israel died. 15And God sent an Angel to destroy Jerusalem; and as He was destroying, the LORD relented, and said to the destroying Angel, “Stop! It is enough. Withdraw Your hand.” At that moment, the Angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan (Araunah), the Jebusite. 16And David looked up, and saw the Angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with a sword drawn in His hand and stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, all clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17And David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the people to be numbered? I, the shepherd, have sinned and indeed done evil; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I beg You, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on Your people, that they should be plagued.”

18Then the Angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up, and build an altar unto the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite. 19And David went up in obedience to the word which Gad spoke in the name of the LORD. 20And as Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned, and saw the Angel; and he and his four sons hid themselves. 21And then as Ornan saw David approaching he went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. 22Then David said to Ornan, “Let me buy the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it unto the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price; so that the plague may be averted from the people.” 23And Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let the king do whatever is good in his eyes. Look, I will give you the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering; I give it all.” 24And David replied, “No; I insist that I buy it for the full price: I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 25So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels (about 15 pounds) of gold by weight for the place. 26And David built an altar there unto the LORD, and offered burnt and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and the LORD answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of the burnt offering. 27And the LORD ordered the Angel to put His sword back into its sheath.

28And when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. 29For at that time, the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at the high place at Gibeon. 30But David could not go there to enquire of God; for he was afraid of the sword of the Angel of the LORD.