Feasting on Hope in the Presence of Pain

5 Ways to Support Your Wife Emotionally

And She Got Up: Healing, Hope, and Restoration After Loss

Proven: Coaches Time Out

Peace That Lasts: Bringing Christ Into Every Moment

Wait Well: Trusting God's Timing

IMAGES THAT SPEAK

From Palm to Glory: Jesus’ Passion Week Through Mark’s Eyes

Don't Pray It Safe: 4 Dangerous Prayers That Will Change You

Proven: Huddle for Women Athletes

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2SA">
 <div class="chapter ch24" data-usfm="2SA.24">
 <div class="label">24</div><div class="s1">David Enrolls the Fighting Men</div><div class="p"> 1Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, &#8220;Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2So the king said to Joab and the army commanders#24:2 Septuagint (see also verse 4 and 1 Chron. 21:2); Hebrew Joab the army commander with him, &#8220;Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3But Joab replied to the king, &#8220;May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4The king&#8217;s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 5After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. 6They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. 7Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.</div><div class="p"> 8After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.</div><div class="p"> 9Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.</div><div class="p"> 10David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, &#8220;I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David&#8217;s seer: 12&#8220;Go and tell David, &#8216;This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13So Gad went to David and said to him, &#8220;Shall there come on you three#24:13 Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 21:12); Hebrew seven years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14David said to Gad, &#8220;I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, &#8220;Enough! Withdraw your hand.&#8221; The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.</div><div class="p"> 17When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, &#8220;I have sinned; I, the shepherd,#24:17 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have the shepherd. have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">David Builds an Altar</div><div class="p"> 18On that day Gad went to David and said to him, &#8220;Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.&#8221; 19So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. 20When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.</div><div class="p"> 21Araunah said, &#8220;Why has my lord the king come to his servant?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;To buy your threshing floor,&#8221; David answered, &#8220;so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22Araunah said to David, &#8220;Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23Your Majesty, Araunah#24:23 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts King Araunah gives all this to the king.&#8221; Araunah also said to him, &#8220;May the Lord your God accept you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24But the king replied to Araunah, &#8220;No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels#24:24 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams of silver for them. 25David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1CH">
 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="1CH.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">David Counts the Fighting Men</div><div class="p"> 1Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, &#8220;Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3But Joab replied, &#8220;May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord&#8217;s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4The king&#8217;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.</div><div class="p"> 6But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king&#8217;s command was repulsive to him. 7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.</div><div class="p"> 8Then David said to God, &#8220;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.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9The Lord said to Gad, David&#8217;s seer, 10&#8220;Go and tell David, &#8216;This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11So Gad went to David and said to him, &#8220;This is what the Lord says: &#8216;Take your choice: 12three years of famine, three months of being swept away#21:12 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate (see also 2 Samuel 24:13) of fleeing before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord&#8212;days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.&#8217; Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13David said to Gad, &#8220;I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 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 relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying the people, &#8220;Enough! Withdraw your hand.&#8221; The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah#21:15 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah; also in verses 18-28 the Jebusite.</div><div class="p"> 16David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.</div><div class="p"> 17David said to God, &#8220;Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd,#21:17 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see 2 Samuel 24:17 and note); Masoretic Text does not have the shepherd. have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">David Builds an Altar</div><div class="p"> 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 obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 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.</div><div class="p"> 22David said to him, &#8220;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.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23Araunah said to David, &#8220;Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24But King David replied to Araunah, &#8220;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.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels#21:25 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms 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.</div><div class="p"> 27Then the Lord spoke 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 wilderness, 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.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPHM">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="PHM.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker&#8212; 2also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier&#8212;and to the church that meets in your home:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 3Grace and peace to you#1:3 The Greek is plural; also in verses 22 and 25; elsewhere in this letter &#8220;you&#8221; is singular. from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.</div><div class="s1">Thanksgiving and Prayer</div><div class="p"> 4I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. 7Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord&#8217;s people.</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Plea for Onesimus</div><div class="p"> 8Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul&#8212;an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus&#8212; 10that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus,#1:10 Onesimus means useful. who became my son while I was in chains. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.</div><div class="p"> 12I am sending him&#8212;who is my very heart&#8212;back to you. 13I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. 15Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever&#8212; 16no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 17So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back&#8212;not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.</div><div class="p"> 22And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.</div><div class="p"> 25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.</div>
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