12. “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: There are three ways you can be punished. Choose the one you want.’”
13. So Gad went to David and said to him, “Choose one of these three: seven years of famine for you and your country, being chased by your enemies for three months, or three days of disease in your country. Think about it, and decide which one you want. I must give your answer to the one who sent me.”
14. David said to Gad, “This is a terrible situation to be in. But it would be better to be punished by the Lord than by anyone else, because he is very merciful.”
15. So the Lord sent a disease against Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the chosen time to stop. From Dan to Beersheba 70,000 people died.
16. The angel raised his arm over Jerusalem and was ready to destroy it, but the Lord felt very sorry about the bad things that had happened. He said to the angel who destroyed the people, “That’s enough! Put down your arm.” The Lord’S angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17. When he saw the angel who killed the people, David spoke to the Lord. David said, “I sinned! I did wrong! And these people only did what I told them—they only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong. Please let your punishment be against me and my father’s family.”
18. That day Gad came to David and said, “Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19. So David did what Gad told him to. David did what the Lord wanted and went to see Araunah.
20. Araunah looked and saw King David and his officers coming to him. Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground.
21. He said, “Why has my lord and king come to me?” David answered, “I came to buy the threshing floor from you. Then I can build an altar to the Lord. Then the disease will stop.”
22. Araunah said to David, “My lord and king, you can take anything you want for a sacrifice. Here are some oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing boards and the yokes for the wood.
23. O King, I give everything to you!” Araunah also said to the king, “May the Lord your God be pleased with you.”
24. But the king said to Araunah, “No! I must pay you for everything. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver.
25. Then David built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. The Lord answered his prayer for the country. He stopped the disease in Israel.