1st Chronicles 历代志上21

21Satan rose up against Israel and incited¹ David to take a census² of Israel.
2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are."
3But Joab replied, "May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt³ on Israel?"
4The king's word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem.
5Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.
6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive⁴ to him.
7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.
8Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing."
9The Lord said to Gad⁵, David's seer,
10"Go and tell David, 'This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.' "
11So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Take your choice:
12three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord -days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging⁶ every part of Israel.' Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me."
13David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress⁷. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord , for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."
14So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.
15And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and was grieved because of the calamity⁸ and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the Lord was then standing⁹ at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
16David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn¹⁰ sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
17David said to God, "Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O Lord my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people."
18Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19So David went up in obedience¹¹ to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord .
20While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
21Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.
22David said to him, "Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord , that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price."
23Araunah said to David, "Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges¹³ for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this."
24But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."
25So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site.
26David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord , and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27Then the Lord spoke¹² to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
28At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there.
29The tabernacle of the Lord , which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon.
30But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord .

1 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 repulsive   

adj.排斥的，使人反感的

参考例句：

• She found the idea deeply repulsive.她发现这个想法很恶心。
• The repulsive force within the nucleus is enormous.核子内部的斥力是巨大的。

5 gad   

n.闲逛；v.闲逛

参考例句：

• He is always on the gad.他老是闲荡作乐。
• Let it go back into the gloaming and gad with a lot of longing.就让它回到暮色中，满怀憧憬地游荡吧。

6 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

7 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

8 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 sledges   

n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载

参考例句：

• Sledges run well over frozen snow. 雪橇在冻硬了的雪上顺利滑行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They used picks and sledges to break the rocks. 他们用[镐和撬]来打碎这些岩石。 来自互联网