Gad

3Then David went to a town called Mizpeh in the land of Moab. He asked the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother stay with you. They can stay until I know what God will do for me."

And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

NoteMoab was a country close to Israel, on the other side of the Dead Sea. It had its own king. David's family had a link to Moab. His great-grandmother Ruth came from there.

4David brought his parents to the king of Moab. They stayed with him the whole time David was hiding in his safe place.

And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

NoteThe safe place was a strong hideout among rocks and caves. Enemies would find it very hard to reach.

5Gad was a prophet, someone who told people what God said. Gad told David, "Do not stay in that safe place. Go to the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hareth.

And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

NoteA prophet was someone who carried God's messages to people. Kings often listened to a prophet before choosing what to do.

10After the counting, David felt sick inside about it. He said to the LORD, "I have done a very bad thing. Please forgive me. I acted very foolishly."

And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

11David got up the next morning. Before that, a message from the LORD had come to Gad. Gad was a prophet, someone who told people what God said.

For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

NoteThe King James calls Gad a "seer." That is another word for prophet. It means one who sees what God shows him.

12God said, "Go and tell David this. The LORD says, 'I am giving you three choices. Pick one, and I will do it to you.'"

Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

13So Gad went and told David. He said, "Do you choose seven years with no food growing in your land? Or three months running away from your enemies as they chase you? Or three days of deadly sickness in your land? Think it over. Then tell me what to say to the One who sent me."

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

Note"Famine" means a long time when food will not grow. People go hungry.

14David said to Gad, "This is very hard for me. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, because he is very kind. Do not let me fall into the hands of people."

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

NoteTo be in someone's hands means they decide what happens to you.

15So the LORD sent a deadly sickness on Israel. It lasted from that morning until the set time. From Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand people died.

So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

16The angel reached out his hand to destroy Jerusalem. But the LORD changed his mind about the harm. He said to the angel, "That is enough. Stop now." The angel was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. A threshing floor is a flat place where grain is beaten out.

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

NoteAn angel is a messenger God sends to do what he says.

17David saw the angel striking the people. He said to the LORD, "Look, I am the one who sinned. I am the one who did wrong. But these people are like sheep. What did they do? Please punish me and my family instead."

And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.

NoteKings were often called shepherds. So David calls his people sheep.

18That same day Gad came to David. He said, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on Araunah's threshing floor."

And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

NoteAn altar is a table built of stones. People burned gifts to God on it.

19So David went up, just as Gad told him and just as the LORD had said.

And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.

20Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming. He went out and bowed low, with his face to the ground.

And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.

NoteBowing with your face down was how you showed honor to a king.

21Araunah asked, "Why has my lord the king come to me?" David said, "To buy your threshing floor. I want to build an altar to the LORD, so the sickness will stop."

And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

22Araunah said to David, "Take whatever you want and give it to God. Here are oxen for a burnt gift. Here are the heavy boards and wooden yokes to burn as firewood."

And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.

NoteOxen are big, strong cattle. They pull heavy loads on a farm.

23Araunah gave all of it to the king. He said to the king, "May the LORD your God be pleased with you."

All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.

NoteThe heavy boards are threshing sledges. Oxen dragged them over grain to knock the seeds loose.

24The king said, "No. I will pay you a fair price. I will not give the LORD my God gifts that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.

And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

NoteA shekel was a small weight of silver. People paid with silver instead of coins. Fifty shekels was a lot of money.

25There David built an altar to the LORD. He gave burnt gifts and friendship gifts to God. The LORD listened to the prayer for the land. The sickness in Israel stopped.

And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

NoteA burnt gift was burned up on the altar for God. A friendship gift was shared in a happy meal together.

7God was not pleased with what David had done. So God punished Israel.

And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

NoteThe King James says God "smote" Israel. Smote is an old word. It just means struck or hit.

8David said to God, "I have sinned badly by doing this. Please forgive me, your servant. I acted very foolishly."

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

NoteTo sin means to do something wrong against God. David is telling God he is sorry.

9The LORD spoke to Gad. Gad was David's seer, a man who told people what God said.

And the LORD spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,

NoteA seer was another name for a prophet. He was called a seer because God showed him things.

10"Go and tell David that the LORD says this: I am giving you three choices. Pick one, and I will do it to you."

Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

11So Gad went to David and said, "The LORD says, you must choose one of these."

So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee

12"Three years when no food will grow. Or three months of running from your enemies, while their swords catch you. Or three days of the LORD's own sword. That means a deadly sickness in the land. The angel of the LORD will destroy every part of Israel. Now tell me what answer I should bring back to God."

Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

NoteAn angel is a messenger God sends to do his work. Angels were often shown as strong and a little scary.

13David said to Gad, "I am in deep trouble. Let me fall into the LORD's hands. He is very kind. Do not let me fall into human hands."

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

NoteThe King James says David was in a "great strait." A strait is a narrow, tight place. He felt stuck.

14So the LORD sent a deadly sickness on Israel. Seventy thousand men of Israel died.

So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

15God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But while the angel was doing it, the LORD saw and stopped the harm. He said to the angel, "That is enough. Put your hand down now." The angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

NoteA threshing floor was a flat, hard patch of ground. Farmers beat grain there to knock the seeds loose. The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem before David's people came. Ornan was one of them.

16David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD. The angel stood between the ground and the sky. He held a sword pointed out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders of Israel wore rough sackcloth. They bowed down with their faces to the ground.

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

NoteSackcloth was rough, scratchy cloth, like a grain sack. People wore it to show they were very sad or sorry. The elders were the older men who helped lead the people.

17David said to God, "I am the one who ordered the counting. I sinned and did wrong. But these people are like sheep. What did they do? Please, LORD my God, punish me and my family. Do not hurt your people with this sickness."

And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

NoteKings in those days were often called shepherds. David is saying his people are like his sheep.

18Then the angel of the LORD told Gad to give David a message. David must go and build an altar to the LORD. He must build it on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

NoteAn altar was a table built of stones. People burned gifts to God on top of it.

19So David went up, just as Gad had said in the LORD's name.

And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.

NoteTo speak "in the name of the LORD" means Gad spoke God's own words, not his own ideas.

20Ornan was threshing wheat at the time. He turned and saw the angel. His four sons were with him, and they hid.

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

21David came to Ornan. Ornan looked and saw the king coming. He left the threshing floor and bowed with his face to the ground.

And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

NoteBowing with your face to the ground was how people showed great respect to a king.

22David said to Ornan, "Sell me this threshing floor. I want to build an altar to the LORD here. I will pay you the full price. That way the sickness may stop for the people."

Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

23Ornan said, "Take it, my king. Do what seems good to you. I will give you my oxen for the burnt offerings. Take my threshing tools for firewood. Take the wheat for the grain offering. I give it all to you."

And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

NoteOxen are big, strong cattle. They pull heavy farm tools. Threshing tools were heavy wooden boards with sharp stones underneath. Oxen dragged them over the grain.

24King David said, "No. I will pay the full price for it. I will not take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not give offerings that cost me nothing."

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

25So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the place.

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

NoteA shekel was a weight, not a coin. Coins had not been invented yet. People paid by weighing out gold or silver. Six hundred shekels of gold was a huge amount, about fifteen pounds.

26David built an altar there to the LORD. He gave burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called out to the LORD. The LORD answered by sending fire from heaven onto the altar.

And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal given to God and burned up on the altar. A peace offering was an animal given to God, and part of it was cooked and eaten as a shared meal.

27Then the LORD spoke to the angel. The angel put his sword back into its cover.

And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

NoteThe King James says the sword went back in its "sheath." A sheath is the case a sword slides into.

28David saw that the LORD had answered him at Ornan's threshing floor. So he gave his offerings there.

At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

29The special tent that Moses made in the desert was somewhere else. It stood at the worship place in Gibeon, along with the altar for burnt offerings.

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

NoteThe tabernacle was a big tent for worshiping God. People used it before the temple was built. Moses led God's people through the desert long before David lived. A high place was a worship spot on a hill. Gibeon was a town a few miles from Jerusalem.

30But David could not go there to ask God what to do. He was afraid of the angel's sword.

But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

NoteTo "enquire of God" means to ask God what to do. People went to the worship tent to ask him.