1 Chronicles 21
Open in the reader1Then The-Adversary rose up against Strives-with-God and incited Beloved to take a census of Strives-with-God.
2So Beloved said to He-Who-Is-Father and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the children of Strives-with-God from Well-of-Oath to Judge and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”
3But He-Who-Is-Father replied, “May He-Who-Is multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Strives-with-God?”
4Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against He-Who-Is-Father. So He-Who-Is-Father departed and traveled throughout Strives-with-God, and then he returned to Foundation-of-Peace.
5And He-Who-Is-Father reported to Beloved the total number of the troops. In all Strives-with-God there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Praised.
6But He-Who-Is-Father did not include Joined and Son-of-the-Right-Hand in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him.
7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Strives-with-God.
8Then Beloved said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9And He-Who-Is instructed Fortune, Beloved’s seer,
10“Go and tell Beloved that this is what He-Who-Is says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”
11So Fortune went and said to Beloved, “This is what He-Who-Is says: ‘You must choose
12between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of He-Who-Is—days of plague upon the land, with the messenger of He-Who-Is ravaging every part of Strives-with-God.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
13Beloved answered Fortune, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of He-Who-Is, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
14So He-Who-Is sent a plague upon Strives-with-God, and seventy thousand men of Strives-with-God fell dead.
15Then God sent a messenger to destroy Foundation-of-Peace, but as the messenger was doing so, He-Who-Is saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the messenger who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the messenger of He-Who-Is was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Trodden-One.
16When Beloved lifted up his eyes and saw the messenger of He-Who-Is standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Foundation-of-Peace, Beloved and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
17And Beloved said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O He-Who-Is my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”
18Then the messenger of He-Who-Is ordered Fortune to tell Beloved to go up and build an altar to He-Who-Is on the threshing floor of Ornan the Trodden-One.
19So Beloved went up at the word that Fortune had spoken in the name of He-Who-Is.
20Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the messenger; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
21Beloved came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw Beloved, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before Beloved.
22Then Beloved said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to He-Who-Is. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”
23Ornan said to Beloved, “Take it! May my lord the king do whatever seems good to him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I will give it all.”
24“No,” replied King Beloved, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for He-Who-Is what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
25So Beloved paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site.
26And there he built an altar to He-Who-Is and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon He-Who-Is, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27Then He-Who-Is spoke to the messenger, who put his sword back into its sheath.
28At that time, when Beloved saw that He-Who-Is had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Trodden-One, he offered sacrifices there.
29For the Dwelling of He-Who-Is that Drawn-Out had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Hill-Town,
30but Beloved could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the messenger of He-Who-Is.