1 Some time later, Nahash king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son. 2And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent messengers to console Hanun concerning his father. But when David’s servants arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him, 3the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Have not his servants come to you to explore the land, spy it out, and overthrow it?”

4 So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.

5 When someone came and told David about his men, he sent messengers to meet them, since the men had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah. 7So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, as well as the king of Maacah with his troops, who came and camped near Medeba while the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and marched out for battle.

8 On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men. 9The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come stayed by themselves in the open country.

10 When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. 11And he placed the rest of the troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

12“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue. 13Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

14 So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him. 15When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Joab’s brother Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab went back to Jerusalem.

16 When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

17 When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, advanced toward the Arameans, and arrayed for battle against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought against him. 18But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand of their charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach the commander of their army.

19 When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Arameans were unwilling to help the Ammonites anymore.

1 In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. And Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it.

2 Then David took the crown from the head of their king. It was found to weigh a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

3 David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

4 Some time later, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.

5 Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

6 And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot— twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, 7and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.

8 So these descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

1 Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”

3 But Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and traveled throughout Israel, and then he returned to Jerusalem. 5And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah. 6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him.

7 This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.

8 Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

9 And the Lord instructed Gad, David’s seer, 10“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.’”

11 So Gad went and said to David, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You must choose 12between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the Lord— days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

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

14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

15 Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!”

At that time the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

16 When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. 17And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”

18 Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19So David went up at the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord.

20 Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before David.

22 Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the Lord. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

23 Ornan said to David, “Take it! May my lord the king do whatever seems good to him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering— I will give it all.”

24“No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the Lord what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

25 So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site. 26And there he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the Lord, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

27 Then the Lord spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.

28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. 29For the tabernacle of the Lord that Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Gibeon, 30but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

1 What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written:

5 But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms. 6Certainly not! In that case, how could God judge the world? 7However, if my falsehood accentuates God’s truthfulness, to the increase of His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner? 8Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!