Kubagwa kwe bathu
(2 Samuele 24:1-25)1 Satani kamukila Iziraela ngono kathama kuti Dafite azhigwe nge nkumbulo we kubala Baiziraela. 2 Ndizo Dafite kadwa Joabu ne balauli be babhayani kati, “Yendani munobala Baiziraela kudwa mu Bheerisheba kunoti ku Dani ngono undizhisile mbiko kuti ndizo ndizibe mbalo yabo.”
3 Koga Joabu kashandula eti, “Tshene Yahwe bangawatsha bathu babo kupinda kwabali iko ngwenu ka zana (100)! Tetshi wangu mambo wangu atenti balanda benyu bose, ini munga shaka kuti babagwe kene? Ini muzhisila Iziraela nlandu kene?” 4 Koga matama a mambo kakulila Joabu, ndizo Joabu kamilika kayenda Iziraela yose kudwapo kashandukila ku Jerusalema. 5 Joabu kabikila Dafite mbalo yose ye balume be ngwa sahwou: Mu Iziraela yose kwakabe kuli balume bali miliyoni ingo'ompela ina zwiwulu zwili zana lina (1 100 000) banobhata mathumo, mu Juda bakabe bali zwiwulu zwili mazana manna ana makumi ali kutendeka (470 000) bakalizana ngwa. 6 Koga aazobalilanya ne Balevi ne Babhenjamini ngobe akabe asingadumane ne ndaulo ya mambo.
7 Koga Ndzimu ukasishathile ikoko kose ngono ukaloba Iziraela. 8 Ngono Dafite kabe edwa Ndzimu eti, “Ndatjinya kwakabangalala ngothama tjandathama. Koga ngwenu ndomukumbila bukushani jinyo le nlanda wenyu ngobe ndathama bulengwe.” 9 Ngono Yahwe bakalebeleka na Gadi nlebesambeli wa Dafite bakati, 10 “Yenda unodwa Dafite uti, ‘Yahwe bakati, ndokupa zwithu zwili zwitatu, ushalule ku ng'ompela mu zwili kuti ndikuthamile iko.’ ”
11 Ndizo Gadi kazha kuna Dafite ngono kati kunli, “Yahwe bakati, ‘Shalula kwaunoshaka, 12 makole matatu e bhamba kene mimwedzi mitatu ye kuthukudziwa nge thumo le zwita zwizo, ha thumo le zwita zwizo likukulila, kene mazhuba matatu e thumo la Yahwe ne bugwele mu shango ne ntumwa wa Yahwe ekolomodza ntuthu wose we Iziraela.’ Ngwenu shalula tjaunoshaka, kuti ndizo ndiyise dabilo kuna wandituma.”
13 Ipapo Dafite kashandula Gadi eti, “Ndimu tjimo tjinomanikanya, koyita kuti ndiwile mu maboko a Yahwe ngono ibo bana ngoni pana kuti ndiwile mu maboko e nthu.”
14 Ndizo Yahwe bakatumila bugwele mu Iziraela, kukafa balume be Iziraela bali zwiwulu zwili makumi ali kutendeka (70 000). 15 Kudwapo bakatumila ntumwa we kudzimu ku Jerusalema ku ikolomola koga wakati abe pejo ne kuyilobesa Yahwe bakabuza moyo ngono bakabe bedwa ntumwa we kudzimu we golomodzo beti, “Kwagala, misa!” Ngono ntumwa we kudzimu we golomodzo wakabe ali mile pa lubuwa gwa Orinani we N'jebusi. 16 Dafite kamilidza mesho kabona ntumwa we kudzimu wa Yahwe ali mu phepo pakati kwe shango ne kudzimu akabhata thumo akalitambunudzila ku Jerusalema. Dafite ne bakulu bakabe bakaambala masaka e tjililo bakawa nge njiso dzabo. 17 Ngono Dafite kabe eti ku Ndzimu, “Apa ate imi ndakadusa ndaulo ye kuti babhayani babagwe kene? Apa ate imi ndakathama jinyo athama bubi kene? Koga bathu ibaba ibo bakatjinyani kene? Ndomukumbila Yahwe Ndzimu wangu lobani imi ne be nsha wangu koga musiletje bugwele gukawila bathu benyu.”
18 Ipapo ntumwa we kudzimu wa Yahwe ukadwa Gadi kuti adwe Dafite kuti atathile pezhugwi anobakila Yahwe tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo mu lutombo gwa Orinani we N'jebusi. 19 Ndizo Dafite kabhulutana matama a Gadi aakabe aleba mu zina la Yahwe. 20 Ngono Orinani wakabe e pula mathunde mu lutombo ngono kati etendebuka kabona ntumwa we kudzimu ngono bakololo babe bali banna baakabe anabo bakanobgwata. 21 Ngono Dafite wakati ezha kuna Orinani, Orinani kalinga ngono kabona Dafite kabhuda pa lutombo kawa nge buso kathigamila Dafite. 22 Ngono Dafite kandwa kati, “Unditengesele lutombo gugo kuti ndibakile Yahwe tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo, ndowotenga nge themba izhele kuti ndizo bugwele gume gusipedze bathu.”
23 Orinani kabe eti kuna Dafite, “Mugutoleni, tetshi wangu mambo bangu ngabathame tjabanobona tjakabalulwamila. Bonani ndomupa mangabe ali zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa ne zwileyi zwinopula ne mathunde e tjibhayilo tje mathunde. Ndomupa kose.”
24 Koga Mambo Dafite bakashandula beti, “Aa ndowogutenga nge themba izhele. Andingape Yahwe zwithu zwizo kene kuli kudusila Yahwe tjibhayilo tjinopisiwa tjandisatukutilila.” 25 Ndizo Dafite kalipa Orinani themba ye mazana ali tathatu (600) e shekele dze golide. 26 Ngono Dafite kabakila Yahwe tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo ngono kazhisa zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa ne zwibhayilo zwe mbakisano ngono kadana Yahwe ngono Yahwe bakan'dabila nge moto kudwa kudzimu udelukila mu tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa. 27 Ngono Yahwe bakadwa ntumwa we kudzimu kuti abgwilize thumo mu hwomo.
28 Mu tjibaka itjetjo Dafite wakati ebona kuti Yahwe ban'dabila ali mu lutombo gwa Orinani we N'jebusi, kadusila zwibhayilo ipapo. 29 Bugalo gwa Yahwe igo Mushe gwaakabaka ali mu tjilambanyika ne tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa zwakabe zwitji ku bugalo gwakatathila ku Gibiyoni, 30 koga Dafite wakabe asingake kayenda kunoshakisisa ku Ndzimu ngobe akabe etja thumo le ntumwa wa Yahwe.
David Counts the People
(2 Samuel 24.1-9)1 Satan decided to cause trouble for Israel by making David think it was a good idea to find out how many people there were in Israel and Judah. 2 David told Joab and the army commanders, “Count everyone in Israel, from the town of Beersheba in the south all the way north to Dan. Then I will know how many people can serve in my army.”
3 Joab answered, “Your Majesty, even if the Lord made your kingdom a hundred times larger, you would still rule everyone in it. Why do you need to know how many soldiers there are? Don't you think that would make the whole nation angry?”
4 But David would not change his mind. And so Joab went everywhere in Israel and Judah and counted the people. He returned to Jerusalem 5 and told David that the total number of men who could serve in the army was 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah. 6 Joab refused to include anyone from the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, because he still disagreed with David's orders.
God Punishes Israel
(2 Samuel 24.10-17)7 David's order to count the people made God angry, and he punished Israel. 8 David prayed, “I am your servant. But what I did was stupid and terribly wrong. Please forgive me.”
9 The Lord said to Gad, one of David's prophets, 10 “Tell David that I will punish him in one of three ways. But he will have to choose which one it will be.”
11 Gad went to David and told him:
You must choose how the Lord will punish you: 12 Will there be three years when the land won't grow enough food for its people? Or will your enemies constantly defeat you for three months? Or will the Lord send a horrible disease to strike your land for three days? Think about it and decide, because I have to give your answer to God who sent me.
13 David was miserable and said, “It's a terrible choice to make! But the Lord is kind, and I'd rather be punished by him than by anyone else.”
14 So the Lord sent a horrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 Israelites died. 15 Then he sent an angel to destroy the city of Jerusalem. But just as the angel was about to do that, the Lord felt sorry for all the suffering he had caused the people, and he told the angel, “Stop! They have suffered enough.” This happened at the threshing place that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite.
16 David saw the Lord's angel in the air, holding a sword over Jerusalem. He and the leaders of Israel, who were all wearing sackcloth, bowed with their faces to the ground, 17 and David prayed, “It's my fault! I sinned by ordering the people to be counted. They have done nothing wrong—they are innocent sheep. Lord God, please punish me and my family. Don't let the disease wipe out your people.”
David Buys Araunah's Threshing Place
(2 Samuel 24.18-25)18 The Lord's angel told the prophet Gad to tell David that he must go to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar in honor of the Lord. 19 David followed the Lord's instructions.
20 Araunah and his four sons were threshing wheat at the time, and when they saw the angel, the four sons ran to hide. 21 Just then, David arrived, and when Araunah saw him, he stopped his work and bowed down.
22 David said, “Would you sell me your threshing place, so I can build an altar on it to the Lord? Then this disease will stop killing the people. I'm willing to pay whatever you say it's worth.”
23 Araunah answered, “Take it, Your Majesty, and do whatever you want with it. I'll even give you the oxen for the sacrifice and the wheat for the grain sacrifice. And you can use the threshing-boards for the fire. It's all yours!”
24 But David replied, “No! I want to pay you what they're worth. I can't just take something from you and then offer the Lord a sacrifice that cost me nothing.”
25 So David paid Araunah 600 gold coins for his threshing place. 26 David built an altar and offered sacrifices to please the Lord and sacrifices to ask his blessing. David prayed, and the Lord answered him by sending fire down on the altar. 27 Then the Lord commanded the angel to put the sword away.
28 When David saw that the Lord had answered his prayer, he offered more sacrifices there at the threshing place, 29-30 because he was afraid of the angel's sword and did not want to go all the way to Gibeon. That's where the sacred tent that Moses had made in the desert was kept, as well as the altar where sacrifices were offered to the Lord.