13. David said to Gad, “I am in trouble. I don’t want some man to punish me. The Lord is very merciful. So let the Lord punish me.”
14. So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 people died.
15. God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But when the angel started to destroy it, the Lord saw it and felt sorry. So he said to the angel who was destroying, “That is enough! Stop!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
16. David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord in the sky. The angel was holding his sword over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders bowed facedown on the ground. They were wearing rough cloth to show their sadness.
17. David said to God, “I am the one who sinned. I gave the order for the people to be counted. I have done wrong. These people are only sheep. What wrong have they done? Lord my God, punish me and my family. But stop the terrible disease that is killing your people.”
18. Then the angel of the Lord gave an order to Gad. He told Gad to tell David to build an altar to worship the Lord. It was to be at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.