1 Chronicles 21:15

¹³ David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

¹⁴ So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

¹⁶ When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.

¹⁷ And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
KJV: And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
WEB: God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, the LORD saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” the LORD’s angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
ASV: And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
DARBY: And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough; withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
BLB: And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as he was destroying, YHWH saw and relented of the disaster, and He said to the angel who was destroying, “Enough now! Restrain your hand.” And the angel of YHWH stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

ÅB: Og Gud sendte en engel til Jerusalem for å ødelegge det. Men da han holdt på med å ødelegge, så Herren det, og han angret det onde og sa til engelen som gjorde ødeleggelse: Det er nok; dra nå din hånd tilbake! Herrens engel sto da ved jebusitten Ornans treskeplass.
OTB: Og Gud sendte en engel til Jerusalem for å ødelegge det;
men da han var i ferd med å ødelegge det,
så Herren og angret ulykken,
og sa til ødeleggelsesengelen:
"Det er nok; nå slapp av din hånd."
Og Herrens engel sto ved treskeplassen til Ornan jebusitten.
B1930: Og Gud sendte en engel til Jerusalem for å ødelegge det. Men da han holdt på med å ødelegge, så Herren det, og han angret det onde og sa til engelen som gjorde ødeleggelse: Det er nok; dra nu din hånd tilbake! Herrens engel stod da ved jebusitten Ornans treskeplass.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Genesis 6:6
And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Read in context
Exodus 32:14
So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
Read in context
Mark 14:41
When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Read in context
Matthew 23:37–38
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
Read in context
Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
Read in context
Judges 2:18
Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.
Read in context
1 Kings 19:4
while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
Read in context
Judges 10:16
So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
Read in context