A Plague on Israel
The plague sweeps across Israel and kills seventy thousand people. As the angel reaches Jerusalem, the LORD says enough, and David asks that the punishment fall on him and his father’s house instead of the sheep.
S15o the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”
Verse 15The LORD sends a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand people die from Dan to Beersheba.
It shows the chosen judgment falling across the nation.
Verse 16As the angel stretches out his hand toward Jerusalem, the LORD relents and tells him to stop at Araunah’s threshing floor.
It introduces the turning from destruction to mercy and names the crucial place.
Verse 17Seeing the angel striking the people, David says he has sinned and asks that the hand fall on him and his father’s house instead.
It presents David as confessing guilt and interceding for the people.
A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.
- vv. 15-17
The plague sweeps across Israel and kills seventy thousand people. As the angel reaches Jerusalem, the LORD says enough, and David asks that the punishment fall on him and his father’s house instead of the sheep.
This paragraph joins judgment, divine restraint, and David’s intercession in one concentrated scene.