6. Joab didn’t include Levi and Benjamin in the number because he was disgusted with the king’s order.
7. God considered the census to be sinful, so he struck Israel ⌊with a plague⌋.
8. David said to God, “I have committed a terrible sin by doing this thing. Forgive me because I have acted very foolishly.”
9. The Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer.
10. “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m offering you three choices. Choose the one you want me to do to you.’ ”
11. When Gad came to David, he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your pick:
12. either three years of famine, or three months during which your enemies will chase you away when their swords catch up to you, or three days of the Lord’s sword—a plague in the land with the Messenger of the Lord destroying the whole country of Israel.’ Decide what answer I should give the one who sent me.”