1
The adversary rose up against Israel, and he incited David to number Israel.
2
So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me the report, that I may know their number.”
3
But Joab said, “May the LORD add to His people a hundred times as many as they are now. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why should Israel incur guilt because of it?”
4
Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed over Joab. So Joab went throughout all Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem.
5
Then Joab gave David the result of the numbering of the people. In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and in Judah there were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew the sword.
6
But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.
7
But this thing was evil in the sight of God, and so He struck Israel.
8
Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in doing this thing. Now, please take away the guilt of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9
Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer:
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“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD: I set three things before you; choose one of them, and I will do it to you.'”
11
So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: You must choose:
12
three years of famine, or three months of being swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or three days of the sword of the LORD, that is, pestilence, in the land, with the angel of the LORD bringing destruction throughout all the territory of Israel. Now therefore consider 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.”
14
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.
15
And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw it and relented concerning the calamity He had intended to bring. Then He said to the destroying angel, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16
When David lifted up his eyes, he saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
17
And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the numbering of the people? I it is who have sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house, but do not let the plague be on your people.”
18
Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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So David went up according to the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the LORD.
20
Now Ornan was threshing wheat; and when he turned, he saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
21
When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked up and saw David, and he went out from the threshing floor and bowed down to David with his face to the ground.
22
Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me this threshing floor, that I may build on it an altar to the LORD; grant it to me at its full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”
23
Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.”
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But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
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So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place.
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Then David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and He answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.
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And the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
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At that time David offered sacrifice there, when he saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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Now the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon,
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but David could not go there before God to inquire of Him, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
⚖️🔥🗡️ Summary of 1 Chronicles 21 – David Counts Israel and God’s Judgment
1 Chronicles 21 is one of the most spiritually profound chapters in the life of King David. Here, David commits a great mistake by counting the people, not at the command of God, but because of the prompting of the devil and human pride. This act brought about the wrath of God and a great plague upon Israel, but it also reveals God’s forgiveness and mercy as well as the setting of the future place of the house of God.
📌 1. David Is Prompted to Count Israel (verses 1–6)
➡️ Satan tempts David to count the people — this is an act of pride and distrust in the power of God
➡️ Joab warns him, but David insists
➡️ Joab carries out the census but does not count Levi and Benjamin because he is unwilling to complete it
➡️ The census grieves the heart of God
🎯 Sometimes, sin is not in the outward act, but in the motive of the heart — trusting in human strength, not in God.
📌 2. God’s Judgment: Three Choices of Disaster (verses 7–13)
➡️ David realizes his sin and says, “I have sinned greatly”
➡️ God sends the prophet Gad to give three choices of punishment:
- Three years of famine
- Three months defeated by enemies
- Three days of plague from the Lord
➡️ David chooses to fall into the hand of the Lord because “His mercy is very great”
🎯 God is more merciful than man — even in judgment, He can grant forgiveness.
📌 3. The Angel of the Lord Destroys, David Pleads for Mercy (verses 14–17)
➡️ The plague takes the lives of 70,000 people
➡️ The angel of the Lord stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem
➡️ The Lord restrained His angel at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite
➡️ David saw the angel with a drawn sword and said:
“I myself have sinned… let Your hand fall on me and on my father’s house!”
🎯 A true leader does not shift the blame to others — he repents and pleads for mercy for his people.
📌 4. David Builds an Altar and the Lord Accepts the Offering (verses 18–30)
➡️ The prophet Gad told David to build an altar at the place where the angel stopped
➡️ David bought the threshing floor of Araunah at full price and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings
➡️ The Lord answered from heaven with fire upon the altar
➡️ The angel sheathed his sword — a sign that the Lord accepted the sacrifice and stopped the plague
➡️ This place would later become the site of the Temple built by Solomon
🎯 In the midst of the Lord’s anger, there is mercy and forgiveness for those who truly repent.
📖 Main Teaching
- Spiritual pride can arise subtly, such as trusting in human strength
- The Lord values sincere repentance and responsible leadership
- The Lord’s judgment is always accompanied by a way of forgiveness
- Acts of faith (such as offering sacrifices) open the way to reconciliation
- From a place of judgment, the Lord can build a place of worship
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
📖 James 4:6
“God opposes the proud, but shows mercy to the humble.”
➡️ David fell because of pride, but was raised up again through repentance
📖 1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and He will forgive.”
➡️ David openly confessed his sin, and the Lord restored
📖 Romans 12:1
“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
➡️ David’s altar portrays the true sacrifice before the Lord — a repentant heart
📖 Hebrews 12:6
“The Lord disciplines the one He loves.”
➡️ The plague is a form of discipline, not destruction
🕊️ “I have sinned greatly by doing this.” – 1 Chronicles 21:8
🕊️ “The Lord is very great in His steadfast love.” – 1 Chronicles 21:13
🕊️ “Enough! Withdraw Your hand!” – 1 Chronicles 21:15
🕊️ “Then the Lord answered with fire from heaven upon the altar.” – 1 Chronicles 21:26
