Joab Destroys the Ammonites

20 In the spring,* Joab led the army of Israel out to battle. That was the time of year when kings went out to battle, but David stayed in Jerusalem. The army of Israel went to the country of Ammon and destroyed it. Then they went to the city of Rabbah. The army camped around the city—they stayed there to keep people from going in or out of the city. Joab and the army of Israel fought against the city of Rabbah until they destroyed it. ²David took the crown from their king’s* head. That gold crown weighed about 75 pounds.* There were valuable stones in the crown. The crown was put on David’s head. Then David had a great many valuable things brought out of the city of Rabbah. ³David brought out the people in Rabbah and forced them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same thing to all the cities of the Ammonite people. Then David and all the army went back to Jerusalem.

Philistine Giants Are Killed

⁴Later the people of Israel had war with the Philistine people at the town of Gezer. At that time, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Sippai. Sippai was one of the sons of the giants. So those Philistine people became like slaves to the Israelites. ⁵Another time, the people of Israel again had war against the Philistine people. Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi. Lahmi was Goliath’s brother. Goliath was from the town of Gath. Lahmi’s spear was very big and heavy. It was like the large pole on a loom.* ⁶Later, the Israelites fought another war with the Philistine people at the town of Gath. In this town there was a very large man. He had 24 fingers and toes. That man had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He also was a son of the giants. ⁷So when that man made fun of Israel, Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was Shimea’s son. Shimea was David’s brother. ⁸Those Philistine men were sons of the giants from the town of Gath. David and his servants killed those giants.

In the spring Literally, “At the return of the year.” their king’s Or, “Milcom,” the god of the Ammonite people. 75 pounds Literally, “1 kikar.” loom A machine for making cloth from thread.

David Sins By Counting Israel

21 Satan was against the people of Israel. He encouraged David to count the people of Israel. ²So David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go and count all the people of Israel. Count everyone in the country—from the town of Beersheba all the way to the town of Dan. Then tell me, so I will know how many people there are.” ³But Joab answered, “May the Lord make his nation 100 times as large! Sir, all the people of Israel are your servants. Why do you want to do this thing, my lord and king? You will make all the people of Israel guilty of sin!” ⁴But King David was stubborn. Joab had to do what the king said. So Joab left and went through all the country of Israel counting the people. Then Joab came back to Jerusalem ⁵and told David how many people there were. In Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could use a sword. And there were 470,000 men in Judah who could use a sword. ⁶Joab did not count the family groups of Levi and Benjamin. Joab did not count those family groups because he did not like King David’s order. ⁷David had done a bad thing in God’s sight. So God punished Israel.

God Punishes Israel

⁸Then David said to God, “I have done something very foolish. I have done a very bad sin by counting the people of Israel. Now, I beg you to take the sin away from me, your servant.” ^9–10Gad was David’s seer.* The Lord said to Gad, “Go and tell David: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to give you three choices. You must choose one of them. Then I will punish you the way you choose.’” ^11–12Then Gad went to David. Gad said to David, “The Lord says, ‘David, choose which punishment you want: three years without enough food, or three months of running away from your enemies while they use their swords to chase you, or three days of punishment from the Lord. Terrible sicknesses will spread through the country, and the Lord’s angel will go through Israel destroying the people.’ David, God sent me. Now, you must decide which answer I will give to him.” ¹³David said to Gad, “I am in trouble! I don’t want some man to decide my punishment. The Lord is very merciful, so let the Lord decide how to punish me.” ¹⁴So the Lord sent terrible sicknesses to Israel, and 70,000 people died. ¹⁵God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But when the angel started to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord saw it and felt sorry. So the Lord decided not to destroy Jerusalem. The Lord said to the angel who was destroying, “Stop! That is enough!” The angel of the Lord was standing at the threshing floor* of Araunah the Jebusite.* ¹⁶David looked up and saw the Lord’s angel in the sky. The angel was holding his sword over the city of Jerusalem. Then David and the elders (leaders) bowed with their faces touching the ground. David and the elders (leaders) were wearing the special clothes to show their sadness. ¹⁷David said to God, “I am the one that sinned! I gave the order for the people to be counted! I was wrong! The people of Israel did not do anything wrong! Lord my God, punish me and my family! But stop the terrible sicknesses that are killing your people!” ¹⁸Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Gad. He said, “Tell David to build an altar* to worship the Lord. David must build that altar near the threshing floor* of Araunah the Jebusite.*” ¹⁹Gad told those things to David, and David went to Araunah’s threshing floor. ²⁰Araunah was threshing* the wheat. Araunah turned around and saw the angel. Araunah’s four sons ran away to hide. ²¹David walked up {the hill} to Araunah. Araunah saw him and left the threshing floor. He walked to David and bowed with his face to the ground in front of him. ²²David said to Araunah, “Sell me your threshing floor.* I will pay you the full price. Then I can use the area to build an altar* to worship the Lord. Then the terrible sicknesses will be stopped.” ²³Araunah said to David, “Take this threshing floor*! You are my lord and king. Do anything you want. Look, I will also give you cattle for the burnt offering.* I will give the wooden floor boards so you can burn them for the fire on the altar.* And I will give the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this to you!” ²⁴But King David answered Araunah, “No, I will pay you the full price. I won’t take anything that is yours and give it to the Lord. I won’t give offerings that cost me nothing.” ²⁵So David gave Araunah about 15 pounds* of gold for the place. ²⁶David built an altar* for worshiping the Lord there. David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. David prayed to the Lord. The Lord answered David by sending fire down from heaven. The fire came down on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷Then the Lord commanded the angel to put his sword back into its sheath.* ²⁸David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor* of Araunah, so David offered sacrifices to the Lord. ²⁹(The Holy Tent* and the altar of burnt offerings were at the high place* in the town of Gibeon. Moses had made the Holy Tent while the people of Israel were in the desert. ³⁰David could not go to the Holy Tent to speak with God because he was afraid. David was afraid of the angel of the Lord and his sword.)

seer This is another name for a prophet. See 1 Sam. 9:9-11. threshing floor A place where grain is beaten or walked on to remove the hulls from the grain. Jebusite A person that lived in Jerusalem before the Israelites took the city. “Jebus” was the old name for Jerusalem. altar A stone table used for burning sacrifices offered as gifts to God. threshing floor A place where grain is beaten or walked on to remove the hulls from the grain. Jebusite A person that lived in Jerusalem before the Israelites took the city. “Jebus” was the old name for Jerusalem. threshing Beating or walking on grain to remove the hulls from the grain. burnt offering(s) Gifts to God. Usually these were animals that were killed and completely burned on the altar. 15 pounds Literally, “600 shekels.” sheath A case for carrying swords. Holy Tent Also called the “tabernacle.” The people would go to this tent to meet with God. The people used this tent until Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem. high place(s) Places for worshiping God or false gods. These places were often on the hills and mountains.