24 Now these were members of the Thirty:

There were thirty-seven in all.

1 Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

2 So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.”

3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to register the troops of Israel.

5 They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. 6Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 7They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, to Beersheba.

8 At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem. 9And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.

10 After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: 12“Go and tell David that this is what the Lord says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”

13 So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

14 David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

16 But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

18 And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded.

20 When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. 21“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said.

“To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the Lord, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

22 Araunah said to David, “May my lord the king take whatever seems good to him and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

24“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25And there he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Then the Lord answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

1 One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

4 Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter. 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

7 Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. 8He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God.

9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11 While the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and ran to them in the walkway called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him. 14You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of this fact.

16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence.

17 And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.

21 Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets. 22For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you. 23Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

24 Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days. 25And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ 26When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”