1 Chronicles — Chapter 21

📖 1 Chronicles — Chapter 21 (KJV)

Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.

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Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.

1 Chronicles 21:1 And ^RSatan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:2 And David said to ^RJoab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

1 Chronicles 21:3 And Joab answered, ^RThe LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

1 Chronicles 21:4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. ^RWherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

1 Chronicles 21:5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were ^Ra thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.

1 Chronicles 21:6 But ^RLevi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

1 Chronicles 21:7 ^RTAnd God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:8 And David said unto God, ^RI have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

1 Chronicles 21:9 And the LORD spake unto ^RGad, David’s seer, saying,

1 Chronicles 21:10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I ^Toffer thee three things: ^Rchoose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

1 Chronicles 21:11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, ^RTChoose thee

1 Chronicles 21:12 Either three years’ famine; or three months ^Rto be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

1 Chronicles 21:13 And David said unto Gad, ^RI am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for ^Tvery great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

1 Chronicles 21:14 So ^Rthe LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

1 Chronicles 21:15 And God sent an angel ^Runto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of ^TOrnan the Jebusite.

1 Chronicles 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and ^Rsaw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

1 Chronicles 21:17 And David said unto God, ^RIs it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

1 Chronicles 21:18 Then ^Rthe angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

1 Chronicles 21:19 And David ^Rwent up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 21:20 ^RTAnd Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

1 Chronicles 21:21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and ^Rbowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

1 Chronicles 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, ^TGrant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: ^Rthou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

1 Chronicles 21:23 And Ornan said unto David, ^RTake it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

1 Chronicles 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, ^RNay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

1 Chronicles 21:25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

1 Chronicles 21:26 And David ^Rbuilt there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.

1 Chronicles 21:27 And ^Rthe LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

1 Chronicles 21:28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

1 Chronicles 21:29 For ^Rthe tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.

1 Chronicles 21:30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for ^Rhe was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

📚 Study This Chapter

📖 What We’re Reading

1 Chronicles 21:1–8 — David insists on numbering Israel

🌱 What These Verses Teach Us

Satan provokes David to number Israel, and David overrides Joab's warning. God is displeased, and David confesses that he has sinned greatly. The passage identifies this particular census as wrongdoing; it does not say that every count is sinful. David's insistence exposes the danger of refusing needed correction.

Key Truth: Receive correction before insistence becomes harmful.

Check What You Remember

📖 What We’re Reading

1 Chronicles 21:9–17 — Judgment and an appeal for mercy

🌱 What These Verses Teach Us

Gad presents the announced alternatives, and David entrusts himself to the LORD's great mercy. Pestilence strikes Israel, but God stops the destroying angel. David acknowledges his responsibility and pleads for the people. The account holds confession, severe consequences, and divine mercy together rather than treating repentance as denial of harm.

Key Truth: Confession acknowledges responsibility and seeks mercy.

Check What You Remember

📖 What We’re Reading

1 Chronicles 21:18–30 — An altar at Ornan's threshingfloor

🌱 What These Verses Teach Us

David follows the instruction to build an altar and insists on paying Ornan rather than taking an offering without cost. God answers by fire and commands the angel to sheath the sword. This place becomes central to the preparations for the temple in the next chapter. Mercy leads David toward reverent worship.

Key Truth: Offer God sincere worship that accepts personal cost.

Check What You Remember

Related Scripture (KJV)

2 Samuel 24:24 — Samuel also records David's refusal to offer what cost him nothing.

2 Samuel 24:24 (KJV) And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.

Reflect and Apply

Where do you need to accept responsibility, seek mercy, and change your actions?

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