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2 Samuel 24

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1 καὶ προσέθετο ὀργὴ κυρίου ἐκκαῆναι ἐν Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπέσεισεν τὸν Δαυιδ ἐν αὐτοῖς λέγων βάδιζε ἀρίθμησον τὸν Ισραηλ καὶ τὸν Ιουδα 2 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς Ιωαβ ἄρχοντα τῆς ἰσχύος τὸν με{T'} αὐτοῦ δίελθε δὴ πάσας φυλὰς Ισραηλ ἀπὸ Δαν καὶ ἕως Βηρσαβεε καὶ ἐπίσκεψαι τὸν λαόν καὶ γνώσομαι τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ λαοῦ 3 καὶ εἶπεν Ιωαβ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ προσθείη κύριος ὁ θεός σου πρὸς τὸν λαὸν ὥσπερ αὐτοὺς καὶ ὥσπερ αὐτοὺς ἑκατονταπλασίονα καὶ ὀφθαλμοὶ τοῦ κυρίου μου τοῦ βασιλέως ὁρῶντες καὶ ὁ κύριός μου ὁ βασιλεὺς ἵνα τί βούλεται ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ 4 καὶ ὑπερίσχυσεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ βασιλέως πρὸς Ιωαβ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ιωαβ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς ἰσχύος ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπισκέψασθαι τὸν λαὸν Ισραηλ 5 καὶ διέβησαν τὸν Ιορδάνην καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐν Αροηρ ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἐν μέσῳ τῆς φάραγγος Γαδ καὶ Ελιεζερ 6 καὶ ἦλθον εἰς τὴν Γαλααδ καὶ εἰς γῆν Θαβασων ἥ ἐστιν Αδασαι καὶ παρεγένοντο εἰς Δανιδαν καὶ Ουδαν καὶ ἐκύκλωσαν εἰς Σιδῶνα 7 καὶ ἦλθαν εἰς Μαψαρ Τύρου καὶ πάσας τὰς πόλεις τοῦ Ευαίου καὶ τοῦ Χαναναίου καὶ ἦλθαν κατὰ νότον Ιουδα εἰς Βηρσαβεε 8 καὶ περιώδευσαν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ καὶ παρεγένοντο ἀπὸ τέλους ἐννέα μηνῶν καὶ εἴκοσι ἡμερῶν εἰς Ιερουσαλημ 9 καὶ ἔδωκεν Ιωαβ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῆς ἐπισκέψεως τοῦ λαοῦ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ἐγένετο Ισραηλ ὀκτακόσιαι χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν δυνάμεως σπωμένων ῥομφαίαν καὶ ἀνὴρ Ιουδα πεντακόσιαι χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν μαχητῶν

1 But still the Lord’s vengeance threatened Israel; and now it was through David he disturbed their peace, with a design for registering Israel and Juda.[1] 2 The king said to Joab, the chief of his army, Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Bersabee, and make a muster-roll of the people, so that I may know the full tale of them. 3 Why, said Joab, my prayer is that the Lord may increase yet more the number of the people, great as it is, and that thou mayest live to see it a hundred times as great! But what is it my lord the king means by this design? 4 But all that Joab and the captains of the army could say might not thwart the king’s will; so Joab and the other commanders left the king’s presence to make a register of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan, and reached Aroer, on the right side of the city that stands in the vale of Gad; 6 then they passed by way of Jazer into Galaad to the plain country of Hodsi, and so reached the woodlands of Dan. Thence they turned towards Sidon, 7 passed close to the walls of Tyre, and all along the country that was still held by Chanaanite and Hevite, and came at last to the southern end of Juda, at Bersabee. 8 So they made their review of the whole country, and returned to Jerusalem after nine months’ and twenty days’ absence. 9 And Joab gave in the register to the king; it proved that there were eight hundred thousand warriors that bore arms in Israel, and five hundred thousand in Juda.

1 Et addidit furor Domini irasci contra Israël, commovitque David in eis dicentem: Vade, numera Israël et Judam. 2 Dixitque rex ad Joab principem exercitus sui: Perambula omnes tribus Israël a Dan usque Bersabee, et numerate populum, ut sciam numerum ejus. 3 Dixitque Joab regi: Adaugeat Dominus Deus tuus ad populum tuum, quantus nunc est, iterumque centuplicet in conspectu domini mei regis: sed quid sibi dominus meus rex vult in re hujuscemodi? 4 Obtinuit autem sermo regis verba Joab et principum exercitus: egressusque est Joab et princeps militum a facie regis, ut numerarent populum Israël. 5 Cumque pertransissent Jordanem, venerunt in Aroër ad dexteram urbis, quæ est in valle Gad: 6 et per Jazer transierunt in Galaad, et in terram inferiorem Hodsi, et venerunt in Dan silvestria. Circumeuntesque juxta Sidonem, 7 transierunt prope mœnia Tyri, et omnem terram Hevæi et Chananæi, veneruntque ad meridiem Juda in Bersabee: 8 et lustrata universa terra, affuerunt post novem menses et viginti dies in Jerusalem. 9 Dedit ergo Joab numerum descriptionis populi regi, et inventa sunt de Israël octingenta millia virorum fortium qui educerent gladium, et de Juda quingenta millia pugnatorum.

10 καὶ ἐπάταξεν καρδία Δαυιδ αὐτὸν μετὰ τὸ ἀριθμῆσαι τὸν λαόν καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς κύριον ἥμαρτον σφόδρα ὃ ἐποίησα νῦν κύριε παραβίβασον δὴ τὴν ἀνομίαν τοῦ δούλου σου ὅτι ἐμωράνθην σφόδρα 11 καὶ ἀνέστη Δαυιδ τὸ πρωί καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐγένετο πρὸς Γαδ τὸν προφήτην τὸν ὁρῶντα Δαυιδ λέγων 12 πορεύθητι καὶ λάλησον πρὸς Δαυιδ λέγων τάδε λέγει κύριος τρία ἐγώ εἰμι αἴρω ἐπὶ σέ καὶ ἔκλεξαι σεαυτῷ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ ποιήσω σοι 13 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Γαδ πρὸς Δαυιδ καὶ ἀνήγγειλεν αὐτῷ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἔκλεξαι σεαυτῷ γενέσθαι εἰ ἔλθῃ σοι τρία ἔτη λιμὸς ἐν τῇ γῇ σου ἢ τρεῖς μῆνας φεύγειν σε ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου καὶ ἔσονται διώκοντές σε ἢ γενέσθαι τρεῖς ἡμέρας θάνατον ἐν τῇ γῇ σου νῦν οὖν γνῶθι καὶ ἰδὲ τί ἀποκριθῶ τῷ ἀποστείλαντί με ῥῆμα 14 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Γαδ στενά μοι πάντοθεν σφόδρα ἐστίν ἐμπεσοῦμαι δὴ ἐν χειρὶ κυρίου ὅτι πολλοὶ οἱ οἰκτιρμοὶ αὐτοῦ σφόδρα εἰς δὲ χεῖρας ἀνθρώπου οὐ μὴ ἐμπέσω καὶ ἐξελέξατο ἑαυτῷ Δαυιδ τὸν θάνατον 15 καὶ ἡμέραι θερισμοῦ πυρῶν καὶ ἔδωκεν κύριος ἐν Ισραηλ θάνατον ἀπὸ πρωίθεν ἕως ὥρας ἀρίστου καὶ ἤρξατο ἡ θραῦσις ἐν τῷ λαῷ καὶ ἀπέθανεν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ ἀπὸ Δαν καὶ ἕως Βηρσαβεε ἑβδομήκοντα χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν 16 καὶ ἐξέτεινεν ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ εἰς Ιερουσαλημ τοῦ διαφθεῖραι αὐτήν καὶ παρεκλήθη κύριος ἐπὶ τῇ κακίᾳ καὶ εἶπεν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῷ διαφθείροντι ἐν τῷ λαῷ πολὺ νῦν ἄνες τὴν χεῖρά σου καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἦν παρὰ τῷ ἅλῳ Ορνα τοῦ Ιεβουσαίου 17 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς κύριον ἐν τῷ ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν τὸν ἄγγελον τύπτοντα ἐν τῷ λαῷ καὶ εἶπεν ἰδοὺ ἐγώ εἰμι ἠδίκησα καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ἐκακοποίησα καὶ οὗτοι τὰ πρόβατα τί ἐποίησαν γενέσθω δὴ ἡ χείρ σου ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρός μου

10 But, now the count of Israel had been made, David’s heart reproached him. And he confessed to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; Lord, give my sin quittance; I have played a fool’s part.[2] 11 And by the time he rose next morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, that was David’s seer, 12 Go and give David this message from the Lord; he is given a threefold choice, and he must choose his own punishment among the three. 13 So Gad went to David with the message: Wilt thou have seven years of famine in thy country, or three months of flight from the pursuit of thy enemies, or three days in which thy country is smitten with plague? Think well, and tell me what answer I shall make to him whose word I bear thee. 14 I am hard pressed on all sides, David told him; but it is better to fall into the hands of the Lord, so rich is he in mercy, than into the hands of men. 15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, from that morning till the time he had appointed; and it raged all the way from Dan to Bersabee, till seventy thousand men had perished. 16 But when the angel of the Lord was stretching out his hand over Jerusalem, to bring destruction on it, the Lord was moved with pity over their calamity, and said to the angel who was smiting the people down, It is enough, stay thy hand. The angel of the Lord stood close, then, to the threshing-floor of Areuna the Jebusite. 17 David, when he saw how the angel was smiting the people down, had said to the Lord, The sin is mine, the fault is mine; these poor sheep of mine, what wrong have they done? Nay, turn thy hand against me, and my own father’s race!

10 Percussit autem cor David eum, postquam numeratus est populus: et dixit David ad Dominum: Peccavi valde in hoc facto: sed precor, Domine, ut transferas iniquitatem servi tui, quia stulte egi nimis. 11 Surrexit itaque David mane, et sermo Domini factus est ad Gad prophetam et videntem David, dicens: 12 Vade, et loquere ad David: Hæc dicit Dominus: Trium tibi datur optio: elige unum quod volueris ex his, ut faciam tibi. 13 Cumque venisset Gad ad David, nuntiavit ei, dicens: Aut septem annis veniet tibi fames in terra tua: aut tribus mensibus fugies adversarios tuos, et ille te persequentur: aut certe tribus diebus erit pestilentia in terra tua. Nunc ergo delibera, et vide quem respondeam ei qui me misit sermonem. 14 Dixit autem David ad Gad: Coarctor nimis: sed melius est ut incidam in manus Domini (multæ enim misericordiæ ejus sunt) quam in manus hominum. 15 Immisitque Dominus pestilentiam in Israël, de mane usque ad tempus constitutum, et mortui sunt ex populo a Dan usque ad Bersabee septuaginta millia virorum. 16 Cumque extendisset manum suam angelus Domini super Jerusalem ut disperderet eam, misertus est Dominus super afflictione, et ait angelo percutienti populum: Sufficit: nunc contine manum tuam. Erat autem angelus Domini juxta aream Areuna Jebusæi. 17 Dixitque David ad Dominum cum vidisset angelum cædentem populum: Ego sum qui peccavi, ego inique egi: isti qui oves sunt, quid fecerunt? vertatur, obsecro, manus tua contra me, et contra domum patris mei.

18 καὶ ἦλθεν Γαδ πρὸς Δαυιδ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἀνάβηθι καὶ στῆσον τῷ κυρίῳ θυσιαστήριον ἐν τῷ ἅλωνι Ορνα τοῦ Ιεβουσαίου 19 καὶ ἀνέβη Δαυιδ κατὰ τὸν λόγον Γαδ κα{Q'} ὃν τρόπον ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ κύριος 20 καὶ διέκυψεν Ορνα καὶ εἶδεν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ παραπορευομένους ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ορνα καὶ προσεκύνησεν τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν 21 καὶ εἶπεν Ορνα τί ὅτι ἦλθεν ὁ κύριός μου ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς τὸν δοῦλον αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ κτήσασθαι παρὰ σοῦ τὸν ἅλωνα τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι θυσιαστήριον τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ συσχεθῇ ἡ θραῦσις ἐπάνω τοῦ λαοῦ 22 καὶ εἶπεν Ορνα πρὸς Δαυιδ λαβέτω καὶ ἀνενεγκέτω ὁ κύριός μου ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ κυρίῳ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ οἱ βόες εἰς ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ οἱ τροχοὶ καὶ τὰ σκεύη τῶν βοῶν εἰς ξύλα 23 τὰ πάντα ἔδωκεν Ορνα τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ εἶπεν Ορνα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα κύριος ὁ θεός σου εὐλογήσαι σε 24 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς Ορνα οὐχί ὅτι ἀλλὰ κτώμενος κτήσομαι παρὰ σοῦ ἐν ἀλλάγματι καὶ οὐκ ἀνοίσω τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ μου ὁλοκαύτωμα δωρεάν καὶ ἐκτήσατο Δαυιδ τὸν ἅλωνα καὶ τοὺς βόας ἐν ἀργυρίῳ σίκλων πεντήκοντα 25 καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ Δαυιδ θυσιαστήριον κυρίῳ καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν ὁλοκαυτώσεις καὶ εἰρηνικάς καὶ προσέθηκεν Σαλωμων ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐ{P'} ἐσχάτῳ ὅτι μικρὸν ἦν ἐν πρώτοις καὶ ἐπήκουσεν κύριος τῇ γῇ καὶ συνεσχέθη ἡ θραῦσις ἐπάνωθεν Ισραηλ

18 Then Gad brought David the message, Go up to the threshing-floor of Areuna the Jebusite, and build an altar there. 19 So David went up, in obedience to the command which the Lord had given him through Gad; 20 and when Areuna looked round, to see the king and the king’s servants coming towards him, 21 he came forward, bowing down with his face to the ground to do the king reverence. What would my lord king with his servant? he asked. And David said, I have come to buy thy threshing-floor; I must build an altar here to the Lord, to put an end to the mortality which goes unhindered among the people. 22 Then Areuna answered, Let the king’s grace take all he needs for his offering; here are sheep for a burnt-sacrifice, here is the waggon, and the yoke my oxen bear, for kindling-wood. 23 All this is Areuna’s royal gift to the king.[3] And may the Lord, Areuna added, grant thy prayer. 24 But the king would not let him have his will; Nay, said he, I must buy it from thee; the victims I offer to the Lord my God must not be procured without cost. So David bought threshing-floor and ox-team for fifty silver pieces; 25 there he built an altar to the Lord, and there he brought burnt-sacrifice and welcome-offering. So the land was received back into the Lord’s favour, and the plague disappeared from Israel.

18 Venit autem Gad ad David in die illa, et dixit ei: Ascende, et constitue altare Domino in area Areuna Jebusæi. 19 Et ascendit David juxta sermonem Gad, quem præceperat ei Dominus. 20 Conspiciensque Areuna, animadvertit regem et servos ejus transire ad se: 21 et egressus adoravit regem prono vultu in terram, et ait: Quid causæ est ut veniat dominus meus rex ad servum suum? Cui David ait: Ut emam a te aream, et ædificem altare Domino, et cesset interfectio quæ grassatur in populo. 22 Et ait Areuna ad David: Accipiat, et offerat dominus meus rex sicut placet ei: habes boves in holocaustum, et plaustrum, et juga boum in usum lignorum. 23 Omnia dedit Areuna rex regi: dixitque Areuna ad regem: Dominus Deus tuus suscipiat votum tuum. 24 Cui respondens rex, ait: Nequaquam ut vis, sed emam pretio a te, et non offeram Domino Deo meo holocausta gratuita. Emit ergo David aream, et boves, argenti siclis quinquaginta: 25 et ædificavit ibi David altare Domino, et obtulit holocausta et pacifica: et propitiatus est Dominus terræ, et cohibita est plaga ab Israël.

[1] Here, as often, the Old Testament record describes God’s dealings with mankind in strictly human terms. By a somewhat violent metaphor, he is compared to a human ruler who is anxious to pick a quarrel with his neighbours, and employs an agent provocateur to give him a pretext for interference. In I Par. 21.1 the same course of events is described in theological terms, and we are told that Satan tempted David to register the people.

[2] Some think the sin of David consisted only in pride. But it seems likely that the census he took was an act of tyranny, designed to transform the free citizens of Israel into servants of the state. The forced labour which King Solomon exacted from his subjects was the direct cause of their revolt after the accession of Roboam (III Kg. 12.4).

[3] ‘All this is’, or perhaps, ‘All this was’; it is not certain where Areuna’s speech ends. If his allusion to a ‘royal gift’ is to be taken literally, it is most natural to suppose that he claimed descent from the Jebusite kings who reigned before the Israelites conquered Jerusalem.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd