between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
Parallel translations
- WEB either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of Yahweh, even pestilence in the land, and Yahweh’s angel destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.’”
- KJV Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
- NKJV either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord—the plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
- NASB three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord: a plague in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall bring back to Him who sent me.”
- NLT You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the Lord brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The three options are three years of famine, three months of military defeat, or three days of plague from the Lord's angel. It lays out the choices David must weigh.
Overview
Gad spells out the alternatives: famine, the sword of enemies, or pestilence from the Lord's destroying angel. Each is severe, but they differ in whose hand David would fall into. The framing leads David to prefer falling into God's hand rather than man's, trusting the Lord's great mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Rev 7:1–3After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.
- Lev 26:17And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- 2 Kgs 19:35And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Jer 42:16then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.
- Lam 4:9Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
- Jer 12:12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
- Isa 66:16For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
- Lev 26:10You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new.
- Deut 28:25The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Ps 91:6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.
- Deut 28:22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
- 1 Kgs 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
- Lev 26:36–37As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Lev 26:25–29And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
- Jer 47:6‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
- 2 Kgs 8:1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”
- 1 Chr 21:15–16Then 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.
- Deut 28:35The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
- 2 Sam 21:1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
- Matt 13:49–50So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous,
- 2 Sam 24:13–14So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
- Deut 28:51–52They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.
- Acts 12:23Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
- Deut 28:15If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Ezek 14:19–21Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast,
- Luke 4:25But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.
- Deut 28:27The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
- Exod 12:23When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
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Original language
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