1 Chronicles 27:24 Cross References - NSB

²⁴ Joab, son of Zeruiah, started to count them but did not finish. God was angry with Israel because of this, and the report from it was never included in the official records of King David.

¹ Jehovah became angry at Israel again. He provoked David to turn against Israel. He said: »Go count the people of Israel and Judah.« ² King David said to Joab the commander of the army: »Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and count the people. That way I will know how many there are.« ³ Joab answered reluctantly: »Your Majesty, may Jehovah your God make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now. May you live to see him do it. But why does Your Majesty want to do this?« ⁴ The king made Joab and his officers obey his order. They left his presence and went out to count the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped south of Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, in the territory of Gad. Then they went north to Jazer. ⁶ They went to Gilead and to Kadesh in Syria. Then they went to Dan (Dan-jaan), Ijon, and on toward Sidon. ⁷ They came to the fortress of Tyre. They went through every town of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Finally, they went to Beersheba in the Southern Desert of Judah. ⁸ After they went through the whole land, they went back to Jerusalem. It took them nine months and twenty days. ⁹ Joab told David: In Israel there is eight hundred thousand who can serve in the army. In Judah there are five hundred thousand. ¹⁰ After David had everyone counted, he felt guilty and told Jehovah: »What I did was stupid and terribly wrong. Jehovah, please forgive me.« ¹¹ When David got up in the morning, Jehovah spoke his word to the prophet Gad, David’s seer. ¹² »Go tell David: ‘This is what Jehovah says: »I offer you three choices. Choose the one you want me to do to you.«’« ¹³ Gad told David the three choices as follows: »Seven years of famine could come to you and your land. You could flee from your enemies as they pursue you for three months. Or there could be a three-day plague in your land? Think it over, and decide what answer I should give the one who sent me.« ¹⁴ »I am in a desperate situation,« David told Gad. »Please let us fall into Jehovah’s hands because he is very merciful. But do not let me fall into human hands.« ¹⁵ So Jehovah sent a plague among the Israelites from that morning until the time he had chosen. Of the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand died.

¹ Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel. He made David decide to take a census. ² David gave orders to Joab and the other officers. He said: »Go through Israel, from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are.« ³ Joab answered: »May Jehovah make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now! They are all your servants, Your Majesty. Why do you want to do this and make the whole nation guilty?« ⁴ But the king made Joab obey the order. Joab traveled through the whole country of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem. ⁵ He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service. There were one million one hundred thousand in Israel and four hundred seventy thousand in Judah. ⁶ Because Joab disapproved of the king’s command, he did not take any census of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. ⁷ God was displeased with what had been done, so he punished Israel. ⁸ David said to God: »I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.« ⁹ Jehovah said to Gad, David’s prophet: ¹⁰ »Tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses.« ¹¹ Gad went to David and told him what Jehovah said. He asked: »Which is it to be? ¹² »Three years of famine? Three months of running away from the armies of your enemies? Or: three days in which Jehovah attacks you with his sword and sends an epidemic on your land. He will use his angel to bring death throughout Israel? What answer shall I give Jehovah?« ¹³ David replied to Gad: »I am in a desperate situation! But I do not want to be punished by the people. Let Jehovah be the one to punish me, because he is merciful.« ¹⁴ Therefore Jehovah sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died. ¹⁵ Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. Then he changed his mind. He said to the angel: »Stop! That is enough!« The angel was standing at the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite. ¹⁶ David saw the angel standing in midair, holding his sword in his hand, ready to destroy Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders of the people, all of whom were wearing sackcloth bowed low, with their faces touching the ground. ¹⁷ David prayed: »O God, I am the one who did wrong. I am the one who ordered the census. What have these poor people done? Jehovah, my God, punish my family, and me and spare your people.«