David Conquers Jerusalem^(A)(B)

⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem^(C) to attack the Jebusites,^(D) who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion^(E)—which is the City of David.^(F)

⁸ On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft^(G) to reach those ‘lame and blind’^(H) who are David’s enemies.^[a]” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

⁹ David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces^[b](I) inward. ¹⁰ And he became more and more powerful,^(J) because the Lord God Almighty^(K) was with him.^(L)

¹⁶ When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented^(A) concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord^(B) was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,^[a] have done wrong. These are but sheep.^(C) What have they done?^(D) Let your hand fall on me and my family.”^(E)

David Builds an Altar^(F)

¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah^(G) the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. ²⁰ When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”^(H)

²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen^(I) for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. ²³ Your Majesty, Araunah^[b] gives^(J) all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”^(K)

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels^[c](L) of silver for them. ²⁵ David built an altar^(M) to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer^(N) in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.