8. David said to God, “I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.”
9. Then the Lord said to Gad, David's prophet,
10. “Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses.”
11. Gad went to David, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, “Which is it to be?
12. Three years of famine? Or three months of running away from the armies of your enemies? Or three days during which the Lord attacks you with his sword and sends an epidemic on your land, using his angel to bring death throughout Israel? What answer shall I give the Lord?”
13. David replied to Gad, “I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish me, because he is merciful.”
14. So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and 70,000 of them died.
15. Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, “Stop! That's enough!” The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.
16. David saw the angel standing in mid air, 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? Lord, my God, punish me and my family, and spare your people.”
18. The angel of the Lord told Gad to command David to go and build an altar to the Lord at Araunah's threshing place.
19. David obeyed the Lord's command and went, as Gad had told him to.
20. There at the threshing place Araunah and his four sons were threshing wheat, and when they saw the angel, the sons ran and hid.
21. As soon as Araunah saw King David approaching, he left the threshing place and bowed low, with his face touching the ground.