A   And Satan stode vp agaynst Israel, ∧ prouoked Dauid to n&obar;bre Israel. And Dauid sayde to Ioab and to the rulers of þe; people. Go ye and n&obar;bre Israel from Beer Seba to Dan, and brynge it to me that I maye know the nombre of them. And Ioab answered: the Lorde make hys people an hundred tymes so manye mo as they be. But my Lorde O k&ibar;g, are they not all my Lordes seruauntes? why then doth my Lorde requyre thys thynge? why wyll my Lorde be a cause of trespace to Israel?

Neuerthelesse, the kynges worde preuayled agaynst Ioab. And Ioab departed and walked thorowe out all th&ebar; of Israel, and came to Ierusalem agayne ∧ gaue the nombre of the counte of the people vnto Dauid. And all they of Israel were a thousand Dauid thousande ∧ an h&ubar;dred thousande men that drue swerde: and Iuda was .cccc.lxx. thousande men that drue swerd. But þe; Leuites and Ben Iamin counted he not am&obar;ge th&ebar;. For þe; kynges worde was abhominable to Ioab. And the Lorde was displeased with thys thynge, and smote Israel. And Dauid sayde vnto God: I haue synned exceadyngly in doynge this thynge. And nowe (I beseche the) do awaye the wyckednesse of thy seruaunt, for I haue done very folyshlye.

B   And the Lorde spake vnto Gad Dauids sear, sayinge: goo and tell Dauid, sayinge: Thus sayth þe; Lorde: I geue the, the choyse of thre thynges: chose the one of them, that I maye do vnto the. And Gad came to Dauid, and sayde vnto hym. Thus sayth the Lorde. Chose the, ether thre yeares famyshement, or thre monethes to be destroyed before thyne aduersaryes, and that þe; swerde of thyne enemyes maye ouertake the: or else the swerde of the Lorde and pestilence in the lande thre dayes, and þe; Angell of the Lorde destroying thorowe out all þe; coastes of Israel. And nowe aduise thy selfe, what worde I shall brynge agayne to hym that sent me. And Dauid sayde vnto Gad. I am in an exceadynge straite: Let me fall nowe into the hande of the Lorde, for passynge great are hys mercyes, but let me not fall into the hand of men.

So þe; Lorde sent pestilence vpon Israel, and there were ouerthrowen of Israel .lxx. thousande men. And God sent the Angel into Ierusal&ebar; to destroye in it. And as he was about to destroye, þe; Lord behelde, and had compassyon on the euyll, and sayde to the Angell þt; destroyed: it is ynough, let now thyne hande ceasse. C   And the Angell of the Lorde stode by þe; thresshynge flowre of Ornan the Iebusyte. And Dauid lyfte vp hys eyes, and sawe þe; Angell of the Lord stande betwene þe; erth and heauen, hauynge a drawen swerde in hys hande, stretched out towarde Ierusalem. Then Dauid ∧ þe; elders of Israel whych were clothed in sacke, fell vpon theyr faces. And Dauid sayd vnto God: Is it not I that c&obar;maunded þe; people to be n&obar;bred? It is I that haue synned ∧ done euell in dede, ∧ what haue these shepe done? let thyne h&abar;de (O Lorde my God) be on me and on my fathers house, but not on thy people that they shulde be punysshed.

And the Angell of the Lorde c&obar;maunded Gad to saye to Dauid, that Dauid shulde go vp, and set vp an aulter vnto the Lorde, in the thresshynge flowre of Ornan the Iebusyte. And Dauid went vp accordynge to the sayinge of Gad, which he spake in the name of þe; Lorde. And Ornan turned aboute, and sawe the Angell, ∧ hys foure sonnes were with hym, and hyd them selues: But

Dauid Ornan was thresshyng wheat. And as Dauid came to Orn&abar;, Orn&abar; loked ∧ sawe Dauid, and went out of the thresshynge floure, and bowed hym selfe to Dauid wyth his face to the grounde.

And Dauid sayde to Ornan: geue me the place of the thresshyng flowre, that I maye buyld an aulter therin vnto the Lord. Thou shalt geue it me for as moche money as it is worthe, that the plage maye cease from the people. And Ornan sayde vnto Dauid: take it to the, ∧ let my Lord þe; kyng do that which semeth good in his eyes: D   loo, I geue the oxen also for burnt sacrifyces, ∧ þe; thresshyng sleades for wodde, ∧ wheate for meat offeryng: I geue it all. And kynge Dauid sayd to Ornan: not so, but I wyll bye it for as moche moneye as it is worth. For I wyll not take that whych is thyne for the Lorde, ner offer burntoffrynges wythout coast.

And so Dauid gaue to Orn&abar; for that place, sycles of gold .vi. h&ubar;dred by waight. And Dauid buylt there an aulter vnto the Lord, and offered burntofferynges ∧ peaceoffrynges, and called vpon the Lord, and he heard hym from heauen in fyre vpon the aulter of burntoffering. And whan the Lord had spoken to þe; Angell, he put vp his swerd agayne into þe; shethe of it. At that tyme wh&ebar; Dauid sawe, that the Lorde had hearde hym in the thresshynge flowre of Ornan the Iebusyte: he vsed to offer there. For the tabernacle of the Lord which Moses made in the wildernesse, and the aulter of burntofferynge were at that ceason in the hyll at Gibe&obar;. And Dauid coulde not go before it to aske councell at God, for he was aferde of the swerde of the Angell of the Lorde.

Previous section

Next section