1 Chronicles 21:15-17

International Standard Version

¹⁵ God also sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as he was about to do so, the Lord looked and withdrew^[a] the calamity by saying to the destroying angel, “Enough! Stop what you’re doing!”^[b]

So the angel of the Lord remained standing near the threshing floor that belonged to Ornan^[c] the Jebusite.^{[d] 16} David looked up and 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 David told God, “Wasn’t I the one who ordered the census of the population? Wasn’t it I who sinned and acted wickedly? Now as for these sheep, what have they done? Lord God, please let your hand be against me and my ancestral household, but don’t let your people be ravaged by plague!”