17. David said to God, "I ordered the fighting men to be counted. I'm the one who has sinned. I'm the one who has done what is wrong. These people are like sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your powerful hand punish me and my family. But don't let this plague continue to strike your people."
18. Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up to the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. He wanted David to build an altar there to honor the Lord.
19. So David went up and did it. He obeyed the message that Gad had spoken in the Lord's name.