The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Dauid causeth the people to be nombred, and therfore is Israell plaged with Pestilence, so that in thre dayes there dyed. ixi. thousande.

CAPI. XXIIII.

ANd agayne, the Lorde was wrothe a∣gaynst [unspec A] Israell, and ☞ Dauid moued hym agaynst them, in that he sayd: go and nombre Israel and Iuda. For the kyng sayde to Ioab the captayne of his hoost: go thou abrode nowe, thorowout all the trybes of Israell, euen from Dan to Beer seba, and nombre ye the people, that I maye knowe the nombre of them. And Ioab sayde vnto the kyng. I beseche the Lorde thy God, to make the people as many mo as they be: yea & an C. tymes so many mo, & that the eyes of my lorde the kyng may se them. And what is the cause that my Lorde the kynge hath a lust to this thynge? Notwithstandynge the kynges worde preuayled agaynst Ioab and agaynst the captaynes of the hoost. And Ioab & the captaynes of the hoost went out from the pre¦sence of the kyng, to nombre the people of Is¦rael. And they passed ouer Iordan, & pytched in Aroer on the ryght syde of the Citye that lyeth in the myddes of the valey of Gad, ouer agaynst Iazer. And thē they came to Gilead, & to the nether lande (where was a newe ha∣bitacion,) & from thence they came to Dan [unspec B] Iaan aboute to Sidon, & came to the strong holde of Tyre, and to all the cityes of the He∣uites & of the Cauanites, & then went out to the south of Iuda, euen to Beer seba. And so when they had bene abrode thorowout al the lande, they returned to Ierusalem agayne, after the ende of. ix. monethes and. xx. dayes.

And Ioab delyuered vp the nombre & sūme of the people vnto the kyng. And there were in Israel. ix. C. thousande mē of myght that drewe swerdes. And the men of Iuda were fyue. C. thousande men. And Dauids herte smote hym, after that he had nombred the people. And Dauid sayde vnto the Lorde: I haue synned excedyngly in that I haue done

And nowe Lorde take away the trespasse of thy seruaunt, for I haue done very folysshly.

And when Dauid was vp in a mornynge, the worde of the lorde came vnto the prophet Gad Dauids sear, saynge: Go and say vnto Dauid, thus sayth the Lorde: I offer the thre thynges, chose the, whiche of them I shal do vnto the.

So Gad came to Dauid, and shewed him [unspec C] & sayd vnto hym: Wylte thou haue ☞ seuen yeres hunger to come in thy lande, or wylte thou flee. iii. monethes before thyne enemyes they folowyng the, or that there be. iii. dayes pestylence in thy lande? Now therfore aduise

the, and se, what answere I shal gyue to hym that sent me. And Dauid sayd vnto Gad: I am in extreme trouble. We wyll fall nowe into the hande of the Lorde, for moche is his mercye, and let me not fall in to the hande of man. And the Lorde sent a pestylence in Is∣raell, from the mornynge vnto the tyme ap∣poynted. And there dyed of the people from Dan to Beerseba seuentye thousande men.

And when the angell stretched out his hande vpon Ierusalem to destroye it, the lorde had cōpassyon to do that euyll, and sayde to the angell that destroyed the people: it is nowe sufficyent: holde thyne hande. And the angell of the lorde was by the thresshynge place of Aresna the Iebusyte. And Dauid spake vn∣to the Lorde (when he sawe the angell that smote the people) and sayde: loo, it is I that haue synned, and I that haue done wyckedly But these shepe, what haue they done? Let thyne hande (I praye the) be agaynst me, & agaynst my fathers house. And Gad came the same day to Dauid, and sayd vnto hym: go vp and reare an aulter vnto the Lorde in the threshynge floore of Aresna the Iebusite. And Dauid (accordyng to the sayng of Gad) went vp, as the lorde cōmaunded.

And Aresna loked, and sawe the kyng and [unspec D] his seruauntes cōmynge towarde hym. And Aresna went out, and bowed him selfe before the kynge flat on his face vpon the ground / and Aresna sayde: wherfore is my Lorde the kynge come to his seruaūt? Dauid answered: to bye the thresshynge floore of the, and to make an aulter vnto the lorde, that the plage maye cease from the people. And Aresna sayd vnto Dauid: let my lorde the kyng take and offre what semeth hym good in his eyes: Be∣holde, here be oxen for burntsacrifyce, & sled∣des and the other instrumentes of the oxen for woode. All these thyng{is} dyd Aresna gyue vnto the kynge, and sayd moreouer vnto the kynge: the lorde thy God accept the. And the kynge sayde vnto Aresna: not so, but I wyll bye it of the at a pryce, and wyl not offre Sa∣crifyce vnto the Lorde my god of that which doth cost me nothyng. And so Dauid bought the thresshynge floore, and the oxen ☞ for fyftye sycles of syluer. And Dauid buylde there an aulter vnto the Lorde, and offered hurt sacrifyces and peaceofferynges. And so the lorde was intreated for the land. And the plage ceased from Israell.

Notes

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