1 Chronicles 21:9-13

21:9 The Lord told Gad, David’s prophet, ¹  21:10 “Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them.”’” ²  21:11 Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Pick one of these: 21:12 three ³  years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck down by their swords, ⁴  or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land and the Lord’s messenger will destroy throughout Israel’s territory.’ ⁵  Now, decide what I should tell the one who sent me.” 21:13 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “seer.”

² tn Heb “Three I am extending to you; choose for yourself one of them and I will do it to you.”

³ tc The parallel text in the MT of 2 Sam 24:13 has “seven,” but LXX has “three” there.

⁴ tc Heb “or three months being swept away from before your enemies and the sword of your enemies overtaking.” The Hebrew term נִסְפֶּה (nisppeh, Niphal participle from סָפָה, safah) should probably be emended to נֻסְכָה (nusÿkhah, Qal infinitive from נוּס [nus] with second masculine singular suffix). See 2 Sam 24:13.

⁵ tn Heb “or three days of the sword of the Lord and plague in the land, and the messenger [or “angel”] of the Lord destroying in all the territory of Israel.”

⁴ tn Heb “There is great distress to me; let me fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercy is very great, but into the hand of men let me not fall.”