15. God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But when the angel started to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord saw it and felt sorry for all the suffering. So he said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Stop! That is enough!” This happened when the angel of the Lord was standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
16. David looked up and saw the Lord’S angel in the sky. The angel was holding his sword over the city of Jerusalem. Then David and the elders bowed with their faces touching the ground. They were wearing the special clothes to show their sadness.
17. David said to God, “I am the one who sinned. I gave the order for the people to be counted! I was wrong. The Israelites did not do anything wrong. Lord my God, punish me and my family, but stop the terrible sicknesses that are killing your people.”
18. Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Gad. He said, “Tell David to build an altar to worship the Lord. David must build that altar near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19. Gad told David this, and David went to Araunah’s threshing floor.