Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:12
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Gad delivers God's message to David following the census, presenting three punitive options and asking David to instruct him on how to respond to the Lord.
The words — The conjunction אִם (im, whether or) structures the conditional alternatives, while נִסְפֶּה (nispeh, being swept away) describes the specific mode of enemy pursuit.
The thread — The sequence of famine, enemy defeat, and plague parallels the covenant warnings in Leviticus 26:17 and the protective motif of Exodus 12:23.
Why it lands — The text requires a direct choice among three forms of judgment, compelling the reader to confront the reality of divine discipline without evasion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:23 When 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.
- Leviticus 26:10 You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new.
- Leviticus 26:17 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 26:25 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.
- Leviticus 26:36 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 fall when no one pursues them.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, 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:
- Deuteronomy 28:22 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 28:25 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 28:27 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 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.