A   And agayne, the Lord was wroth agaynst Israel, and &rhand; he moued Dauid agaynst th&ebar;, in þt; he sayde: ^note go and n&obar;bre Israel and Iuda. For the kynge sayde to Ioab the captayne of his host: go thou abroade nowe, thorow out all the trybes of Israel, euen from Dan to Beer Seba, ∧ nombre ye the people, that I maye knowe the nombre of them. And Ioab sayde vnto the kynge: I beseche þe; Lorde thy God, to make þe; people as many moo as they be: ye and an h&ubar;dred tymes so many mo, and that the eyes of my Lorde the kynge maye se them. And what is the cause þt; my Lorde the kynge hath a lust to this thinge? Not witst&abar;dynge the kynges worde preuayled agaynst Ioab and agaynst the captaynes of þe; hoste:

And Ioab and the captaynes of the host went out from the presence of the kynge, to nombre the people of Israel. And they passed ouer Iordan, and pitched in Aroer on the ryght syde of the cytie that lyeth in the myddes of the valeye of Gad, ouer agaynst Iazer. And then they came to Gilead, and to the nether lande, where was a newe habitacy&obar;, ∧ from th&ebar;ce they came to Dan Iaan about to Sidon, ∧ came to the str&obar;ge holde of Tyre, and to all the cyties of the Heuites and of the Cananites, ∧ then went out to þe; South of Iuda, eu&ebar; to Beerseba. And so, wh&ebar; they had bene abroade thorowe out all the lande, they returned to Ierusal&ebar; agayne, after the ende of nyne monethes and twentye dayes. B   And Ioab delyuered vp the n&obar;bre and summe of the people vnto the kynge. And there were in Israel eyghte h&ubar;dred thousande men of myght þt; drewe swerdes. And the men of Iuda were fyue hundred thousande men.

And Dauids hert smote hym, after that he had n&obar;bred the people. And Dauid sayde vnto the Lorde: I haue synned excedyngly

Dauid in that I haue done. And nowe Lorde take awaye the trespace of thy serua&ubar;t: for I haue done very folyshely. And when Dauid was vp in a morninge, the worde of the Lord came vnto the prophet Gad Dauids sear, sayinge: go and saye vnto Dauid, thus sayth þe; Lord: I offer the thre thynges, chose þe; which of them I shall do vnto the.

So Gad came to Dauid, and shewed him, ∧ sayde vnto him. C   Wilt thou haue &rhand; seuen yeres hunger to come in thy lande, or wilt þu; flee .iij. monethes before thyne enemies, they folowinge the, or that there be thre dayes pestilence in thy lande? Nowe therfore aduyse the, ∧ se, what answere I shall geue to him þt; sent me. And Dauid sayde vnto Gad: I am in extreme trouble. ^noteWe will fall now into the h&abar;de of the Lorde, for moch is his mercye, and lett me not falle into the hande of man.

And so þe; Lorde sent a pestil&ebar;ce in Israel. fr&obar; the mornynge vnto the tyme appoynted. And there dyed of the people from Dan to Beerseba seu&ebar;ty thousande men. And when the Angell stretched out his h&abar;de vpon Ierusalem to destroye it, the Lorde had c&obar;passion to do that euell, and sayde to the Angell that destroyed þe; people: it is nowe sufficient: holde thyne hande. And þe; angell was by the thresshinge place of Arefna the Iebusite. And Dauid spake vnto the Lorde (when he sawe the angell that smote the people) and sayde: loo, it is I that haue synned, and I þt; haue done wyckedly. But these shepe, what haue they done? lett thyne hande (I praye the) be agaynst me and agaynst my fathers house.

And Gad came the same daye to Dauid, and sayde vnto him: go vp and reare an aultare vnto the Lord in the thresshinge flowre of Arefna the Iebusite. And Dauid (accordinge to the sayinge of Gad) w&ebar;t vp, as the Lorde commaunded. D   And Arefna loked, and sawe the kynge and his seruauntes cominge towarde him. And Arefna w&ebar;t out, and bowed him selfe before the kynge flat on his face vpon the gro&ubar;de, and Arefna sayde wherfore is my Lorde the kynge come to his seruaunt? Dauid answered: to bye the thresshynge flowre of the, and to make an aultare vnto the Lorde, that the plage maye cease from the people.

And Arefna sayde vnto Dauid: let my Lord the kynge take and offer what semyth him good in his eyes: Beholde, here be oxen for burnt sacrifyce, and steades and the other instrumentes of the oxen for wood. All these thynges dyd Arefna geue vnto the kynge, ∧ sayde moreouer vnto the kynge: þe; Lorde thy God accept the. And the kynge sayde vnto Arefna: not so, but I wyll bye it of the at a pryce, and wyll not offer sacrifyce vnto the Lorde my God of þt; which doth cost me nothinge. And so Dauid bought þe; thresshynge flowre, ∧ the oxen &rhand; for fyftie sycles of syluer. And Dauid buylt there an aultare vnto þe; Lorde, ∧ offered burnt sacrifyces and peace offeringes. And so the Lorde was intreated for the l&abar;de. And the plage ceased fr&obar; Israel. ¶ The ende of þe; second boke of Samuel: otherwyse called the seconde of the kynges.

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