15 And God sent an angel(A) to destroy Jerusalem.(B) But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented(C) concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying(D) the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah[a] the Jebusite.

16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.(E)

17 David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd,[b] have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep.(F) What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family,(G) but do not let this plague remain on your people.”

David Builds an Altar

18 Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor(H) of Araunah the Jebusite.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 21:15 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah; also in verses 18-28
  2. 1 Chronicles 21:17 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see 2 Samuel 24:17 and note); Masoretic Text does not have the shepherd.

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