Day 180 of 730

¹Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.

²David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, "Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them."

³Joab said, "May the Lord make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?"

⁴Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

⁵Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to David. All those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew sword: and in Judah were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew sword.

⁶But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them; for the king's word was abominable to Joab.

⁷God was displeased with this thing; therefore he struck Israel.

⁸David said to God, "I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly."

⁹The Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying,

¹⁰"Go and speak to David, saying, 'Thus says the Lord, "I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you."'"

¹¹So Gad came to David, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Take your choice:

¹²either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.'"

¹³David said to Gad, "I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are very great. Let me not fall into the hand of man."

¹⁴So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel; and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.

¹⁵God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, the Lord saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, "It is enough; now stay your hand." The angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

¹⁶David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.

¹⁷David said to God, "Isn't it I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued."

¹⁸Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up, and raise an altar to the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

¹⁹David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord.

²⁰Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

²¹As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

²²Then David said to Ornan, "Give me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build thereon an altar to the Lord. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people."

²³Ornan said to David, "Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Behold, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all."

²⁴King David said to Ornan, "No; but I will most certainly buy it for the full price. For I will not take that which is yours for the Lord, nor offer a burnt offering without cost."

²⁵So David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place.

²⁶David built an altar to the Lord there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.

²⁷The Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into its sheath.

²⁸At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

²⁹For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

³⁰But David couldn't go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

¹Then David said, "This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel."

²David gave orders to gather together the foreigners who were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to cut worked stones to build God's house.

³David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight;

⁴and cedar trees without number: for the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David.

⁵David said, "Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore make preparation for it." So David prepared abundantly before his death.

⁶Then he called for Solomon his son, and commanded him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷David said to Solomon his son, "As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God.

⁸But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.

⁹Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.

¹⁰He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.'

¹¹Now, my son, may the Lord be with you and prosper you, and build the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you.

¹²May the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel; that so you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

¹³Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong, and courageous. Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed.

¹⁴Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may add to them.

¹⁵There are also workmen with you in abundance, cutters and workers of stone and timber, and all kinds of men who are skillful in every kind of work:

¹⁶of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise and be doing, and may the Lord be with you."

¹⁷David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

¹⁸"Isn't the Lord your God with you? Hasn't he given you rest on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.

¹⁹Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the Lord your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord."

¹I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.

²Lord my God, I cried to you, and you have healed me.

³Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

⁴Sing praise to the Lord, you holy ones of his. Give thanks to his holy name.

⁵For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

⁶As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."

⁷You, Lord, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled.

⁸I cried to you, Lord. To the Lord I made supplication:

⁹"What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?

¹⁰Hear, Lord, and have mercy on me. Lord, be my helper."

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness,

¹²To the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner;

⁵Take away the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

⁷for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?

⁹Debate your case with your neighbor, and do not betray the confidence of another;

¹⁰lest one who hears it put you to shame, and your bad reputation never depart.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

¹³As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.

¹⁵By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.

¹⁸A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a lame foot.

²⁰As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink:

²²for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring, and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor.

²⁸Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.