1 Chronicles 21 Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel. ² David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know how many there are.” ³ And Joab answered, May the LORD add to His people a hundred times, but my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? ⁴ But the king's order overruled Joab, so Joab left, traveled throughout all of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem ⁵ And Joab gave the sum of the census of the people to David. And in all Israel there were one million and a hundred thousand men who drew sword. And in Judah were four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew sword. ⁶ But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the word of the king was repulsive to Joab. ⁷ and the thing was evil in the sight of God, therefore he smote Israel. ⁸ Then David said to God, Great has been my sin in doing this; but now, be pleased to take away the sin of your servant, for I have done very foolishly. ⁹ the LORD said to Gad, David's prophet: ¹⁰ "Go and tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: "I'm holding three choices out for you: pick one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you."'" ¹¹ So Gad came to David, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Take your choice: ¹² either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtake you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, even the plague in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the border of Israel. And now say what word I shall bring again to Him who sent me. ¹³ And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let me fall now into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man. ¹⁴ So the LORD sent a plague on Israel; and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw and was grieved on account of the calamity. Then he said to the angel, the destroyer, "It is enough; slacken your hand." And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶ David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. ¹⁷ And David said to God, Did not I command to number the people? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed. But these sheep, what have they done? I pray You, let Your hand be on me, O LORD my God, and on my father's house, but not on Your people, that they should be plagued. ¹⁸ Thereupon the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up according to the word which Gad spoke in the name of the Lord. ²⁰ Now Ornan was threshing wheat, and Ornan turned and saw the angel, and his four sons with him hid themselves. ²¹ And David came to Ornan. And when Ornan looked and saw David, he went out of the threshing floor and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. ²² David said to him: "Sell me your threshing place so that I can build an altar to the LORD, to stop the epidemic. I will give you the full price." ²³ And Ornan said to David, "Take it to yourself; let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. See, I give the cattle for the burnt offerings and threshing sledges for the wood and wheat for the grain offering—I give it all." ²⁴ But King David said to Ornan, "No. I will buy them for the full price because I will not offer to the LORD what is yours or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing." ²⁵ So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. ²⁶ David built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ Then the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. ²⁸ At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. ²⁹ Now the tabernacle of the LORD that Moses had made in the desert and the altar of burnt offering were at that time at the high place of Gibeon. ³⁰ And David could not go before it to seek God, because he was afraid of the sword of the Angel of the LORD.