David’s Census Brings Pestilence
1 fThen gSatan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
David’s Census
1 zaAgain the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, b“Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,1 who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, cfrom Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
3 But Joab said, “May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?”
4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and began from eAroer,1 and from the city that is in the middle of the fvalley, toward Gad and on to gJazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;2 and they came to Dan, and from Dan3 they went around to hSidon, 7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the iHivites and iCanaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
5 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were h1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah h470,000 who drew the sword. 6 iBut he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.
7 But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.
The Lord’s Judgment of David’s Sin
10 But kDavid’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, l“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done mvery foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to nthe prophet Gad, David’s oseer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer1 you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either lthree years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
15 rSo the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from sDan to Beersheba 70,000 men.
O Lord, Deliver My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to vThe Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, wrebuke me not in your anger,
nor xdiscipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
yheal me, O Lord, zfor my bones are troubled.
3 My asoul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—bhow long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in cdeath there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
6 I am dweary with my emoaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My feye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 gDepart from me, all you hworkers of evil,
for the Lord ihas heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my jplea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall kturn back and be put to shame in a moment.
Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord
A Psalm of David, lfor the memorial offering.
1 O Lord, mrebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your narrows have sunk into me,
and your hand ohas come down on me.
3 There is pno soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my qbones
because of my sin.
4 For my riniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
6 I am sutterly bowed down and tprostrate;
all the day I ugo about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is pno soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed;
I vgroan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my wsighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and xthe light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My yfriends and companions zstand aloof from my aplague,
and my nearest kin bstand far off.
12 Those who seek my life clay their snares;
those who seek my hurt dspeak of ruin
and meditate etreachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like fa mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no grebukes.
15 But for hyou, O Lord, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only ilet them not rejoice over me,
17 For I am lready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
18 I mconfess my iniquity;
I am nsorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me owrongfully.
20 Those who prender me evil for good
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord!
O my God, be not sfar from me!
22 tMake haste to help me,
O Lord, my usalvation!
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!1
fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.2
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, hbe gracious to me;
iheal me,3 for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.4
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out5 on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,
who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that myou delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
13 rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
I Cry Out Day and Night Before You
A Song. A Psalm of zthe Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to aMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil1 of bHeman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, cGod of my salvation,
I dcry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
eincline your ear to my cry!
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and fmy life draws near to gSheol.
4 I am counted among those who hgo down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom iyou remember no more,
for they are jcut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in kthe depths of the pit,
in the lregions dark and mdeep.
7 Your wrath nlies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with oall your waves. Selah
8 You have caused pmy companions to shun me;
you have made me qa horror2 to them.
I am rshut in so that I cannot escape;
9 smy eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
I tspread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
uDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your vwonders known in wthe darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of xforgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, cry yto you;
zin the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why ado you cast my soul away?
Why bdo you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.3
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your cdreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They dsurround me like a flood eall day long;
they fclose in on me together.
18 You have caused gmy beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.4
