1 Chronicles 21:16-17

21:16 David looked up and saw the Lord’s messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. ¹  21:17 David said to God, “Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! ²  As for these sheep – what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, ³  but remove the plague from your people!” ⁴ 

1 Chronicles 21:27

21:27 The Lord ordered the messenger ⁵  to put his sword back into its sheath.

1 Chronicles 21:30

21:30 But David could not go before it to seek God’s will, for he was afraid of the sword of the Lord’s messenger.

¹ tn Heb “and David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces.”

² tn “and doing evil I did evil.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite form of the verb for emphasis.

³ tn Heb “let your hand be on me and on the house of my father.”

⁴ tn Heb “but on your people not for a plague.”

⁵ tn Heb “spoke to the messenger.”