Bible Reading Plan – Day 98

₁Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again and defeated them. He took out of their control the city of Gath and its surrounding villages.

₁Some time later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king. ₂King David said, “I must show loyal friendship to Hanun, as his father Nahash did to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy.

When they arrived in Ammon and called on King Hanun, ₃the Ammonite leaders said to the king, “Do you think that it is in your father's honour that David has sent these men to express sympathy to you? Of course not! He has sent them here as spies to explore the land, so that he can conquer it!”

₄Hanun seized David's messengers, shaved off their beards, cut off their clothes at the hips, and sent them away. ₅They were too ashamed to return home. When David heard what had happened, he sent word for them to stay in Jericho and not return until their beards had grown again.

₆King Hanun and the Ammonites realized that they had made David their enemy, so they paid 34 tonnes of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Upper Mesopotamia and from the Syrian states of Maacah and Zobah. ₇The 32,000 chariots they hired and the army of the king of Maacah came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites too came out from all their cities and got ready to fight.

₈When David heard what was happening, he sent out Joab and the whole army. ₉The Ammonites marched out and took up their position at the entrance to Rabbah, their capital city, and the kings who had come to help took up their position in the open countryside.

₁₀Joab saw that the enemy troops would attack him in front and from the rear, so he chose the best of Israel's soldiers and put them in position facing the Syrians. ₁₁He placed the rest of his troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who put them in position facing the Ammonites. ₁₂Joab said to him, “If you see that the Syrians are defeating me, come and help me, and if the Ammonites are defeating you, I will go and help you. ₁₃Be strong and courageous! Let's fight hard for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD's will be done.”

₁₄Joab and his men advanced to attack, and the Syrians fled. ₁₅When the Ammonites saw the Syrians running away, they fled from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab went back to Jerusalem.

₁₆The Syrians realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, so they brought troops from the Syrian states on the east side of the River Euphrates and placed them under the command of Shobach, commander of the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah. ₁₇When David heard of it, he gathered the Israelite troops, crossed the Jordan, and put them in position facing the Syrians. The fighting began, ₁₈and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed 7,000 Syrian chariot drivers and 40,000 foot soldiers. They also killed the Syrian commander, Shobach. ₁₉When the kings who were subject to Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Syrians were never again willing to help the Ammonites.

₁The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, Joab led out the army and invaded the land of Ammon; King David, however, stayed in Jerusalem. They besieged the city of Rabbah, attacked it, and destroyed it. ₂The Ammonite idol Molech had a gold crown which weighed about 34 kilogrammes. In it there was a jewel, which David took and put in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city. ₃He took the people of the city and put them to work with saws, iron hoes, and axes. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

₄Later on, war broke out again with the Philistines at Gezer. This was when Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Sippai, and the Philistines were defeated.

₅There was another battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath, whose spear had a shaft as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom.

₆Another battle took place at Gath, where there was a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He was a descendant of the ancient giants. ₇He defied the Israelites, and Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shammah, killed him.

₈These three, who were killed by David and his men, were descendants of the giants at Gath.

₁Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census. ₂David gave orders to Joab and the other officers, “Go through Israel, from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are.”

₃Joab answered, “May the LORD make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now! Your Majesty, they are all your servants. Why do you want to do this and make the whole nation guilty?” ₄But the king made Joab obey the order. Joab went out, travelled through the whole country of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem. ₅He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service: 1,100,000 in Israel, and 470,000 in Judah. ₆Because Joab disapproved of the king's command, he did not take any census of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin.

₇God was displeased with what had been done, so he punished Israel. ₈David said to God, “I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.”

₉Then 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.”

₁₁Gad went to David, told him what the LORD had said, and asked, “Which is it to be? ₁₂Three 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?”

₁₃David 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.”

₁₄So the LORD sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and 70,000 of them died. ₁₅Then 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.

₁₆David 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. ₁₇David 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.”

₁₈The angel of the LORD told Gad to command David to go and build an altar to the LORD at Araunah's threshing place. ₁₉David obeyed the LORD's command and went, as Gad had told him to. ₂₀There at the threshing place Araunah and his four sons were threshing wheat, and when they saw the angel, the sons ran and hid. ₂₁As soon as Araunah saw King David approaching, he left the threshing place and bowed low, with his face touching the ground. ₂₂David said to him, “Sell me your threshing place, so that I can build an altar to the LORD, to stop the epidemic. I'll give you the full price.”

₂₃“Take it, Your Majesty,” Araunah said, “and do whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar, and here are the threshing boards to use as fuel, and wheat to give as an offering. I give it all to you.”

₂₄But the king answered, “No, I will pay you the full price. I will not give as an offering to the LORD something that belongs to you, something that costs me nothing.” ₂₅And he paid Araunah 600 gold coins for the threshing place. ₂₆He built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He prayed, and the LORD answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn the sacrifices on the altar.

₂₇The LORD told the angel to put his sword away, and the angel obeyed. ₂₈David saw by this that the LORD had answered his prayer, so he offered sacrifices on the altar at Araunah's threshing place. ₂₉The Tent of the LORD's presence which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar on which sacrifices were burnt were still at the place of worship at Gibeon at this time; ₃₀but David was not able to go there to worship God, because he was afraid of the sword of the LORD's angel.

₁So David said, “This is where the Temple of the LORD God will be. Here is the altar where the people of Israel are to offer burnt offerings.”