2 Samuel 24:13 “So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of…”

2 Samuel 24:13

So 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.”

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

World English Bible

So Gad came to David, and told him, saying, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”

American Standard Version

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise thee, and consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

Geneva Bible 1599

So Gad came to Dauid, and shewed him, and said vnto him, Wilt thou that seuen yeeres famine come vpon thee in thy lande, or wilt thou flee three moneths before thine enemies, they following thee, or that there bee three dayes pestilence in thy land? nowe aduise thee, and see, what answere I shall giue to him that sent me.

Darby Translation

And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine adversaries while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now be aware and consider what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

Young's Literal Translation

And Gad cometh in unto David, and declareth to him, and saith to him, 'Do seven years of famine come in to thee in thy land? or three months art thou fleeing before thine adversary — and he pursuing thee? or are three days' pestilence in thy land? now, know and see what word I take back to Him sending me.'

Bible in Basic English

So Gad came to David, and gave him word of this and said to him, Are there to be three years when there is not enough food in your land? or will you go in flight from your haters for three months, while they go after you? or will you have three days of violent disease in your land? take thought and say what answer I am to give to him who sent me.

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Cross references

“seven”

1 Chronicles 21:12 2 Samuel 21:1 1 Kings 17:1–7 Leviticus 26:20 Ezekiel 14:13 Luke 4:25

1 Chronicles 21:12 · BSB

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…

2 Samuel 21:1 · BSB

During 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…

1 Kings 17:1–7 · BSB

Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

Leviticus 26:20 · BSB

and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

Ezekiel 14:13 · BSB

“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,

Luke 4:25 · BSB

But 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.

“flee”

Deuteronomy 28:25 Deuteronomy 28:52 Leviticus 26:17 Leviticus 26:36 Leviticus 26:37

Deuteronomy 28:25 · BSB

The 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.

Deuteronomy 28:52 · BSB

They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.

Leviticus 26:17 · BSB

And 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.

Leviticus 26:36 · BSB

As 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…

Leviticus 26:37 · BSB

They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies.

“three days”

Leviticus 26:25 Deuteronomy 28:22 Deuteronomy 28:27 Deuteronomy 28:35 Ezekiel 14:19–21 Psalm 91:6

Leviticus 26:25 · BSB

And 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.

Deuteronomy 28:22 · BSB

The 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.

Deuteronomy 28:27 · BSB

The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.

Deuteronomy 28:35 · BSB

The 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.

Ezekiel 14:19–21 · BSB

Or 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,

Psalm 91:6 · BSB

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

12“Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”

14David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

Read 2 Samuel 24