1 Chronicles 21:13
New International Version
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

New Living Translation
“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

English Standard Version
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Berean Standard Bible
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.”

King James Bible
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

New King James Version
And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

New American Standard Bible
David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into human hands.”

NASB 1995
David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

NASB 1977
And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me now fall into the hand of Yahweh, for His compassions are exceedingly abundant. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Amplified Bible
David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Christian Standard Bible
David answered Gad, “I’m in anguish. Please, let me fall into the LORD’s hands because his mercies are very great, but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
David answered Gad, “I’m in anguish. Please, let me fall into the LORD’s hands because His mercies are very great, but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

American Standard Version
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And David said to Gad: “You have grieved me greatly! We shall be delivered into the hands of LORD JEHOVAH, for his mercies are very great, and we shall not be delivered into the hand of the children of men!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And David said to Gad, They are very hard for me, even all the three: let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are very abundant, and let me not fall by any means into the hands of man.

Contemporary English Version
David was miserable and said, "It's a terrible choice to make! But the LORD is kind, and I'd rather be punished by him than by anyone else."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David said to Gad: I am on every side in a great strait: but it is better for me to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are many, than into the hands of men.

English Revised Version
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"I'm in a desperate situation," David told Gad. "Please let me fall into the LORD's hands because he is extremely merciful. But don't let me fall into human hands."

Good News Translation
David replied to Gad, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the LORD himself be the one to punish me, because he is merciful."

International Standard Version
So David replied to Gad, "This is a very bad choice for me to make! Let me now please fall into the hand of the LORD, because his mercy is very great, but may I never fall into human hands!"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And David said unto Gad: 'I am in a great strait; let me fall now into the hand of the LORD, for very great are His mercies; and let me not fall into the hand of man.'

Literal Standard Version
And David says to Gad, “I am greatly distressed, please let me fall into the hand of YHWH, for His mercies [are] very many, and do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Majority Standard Bible
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.”

New American Bible
Then David said to Gad: “I am in serious trouble. But let me fall into the hand of the LORD, whose mercy is very great, rather than into hands of men.”

NET Bible
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!"

New Revised Standard Version
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but let me not fall into human hands.”

New Heart English Bible
David said to Gad, "I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are very great. Let me not fall into the hand of man."

Webster's Bible Translation
And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

World English Bible
David said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into Yahweh’s hand, for his mercies are very great. Don’t let me fall into man’s hand.”

Young's Literal Translation
And David saith unto Gad, 'I am greatly distressed, let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for very many are His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment for David's Sin
12between 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.” 13David 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.”

Cross References
Psalm 51:1
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 130:4
But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

Psalm 130:7
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.


Treasury of Scripture

And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

I am in

2 Kings 6:15
And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

2 Kings 7:4
If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

Esther 4:11,16
All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days…

Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

great.

Exodus 34:6,7
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, …

Psalm 5:7
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Psalm 51:1,2
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions…

but let me

2 Chronicles 28:9
But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven.

Proverbs 12:10
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Isaiah 46:7
They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

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1 Chronicles 21
1. David, tempted by Satan, forces Joab to number the people
5. The number of the people being brought, David repents of it
9. David having three plagues proposed by God, chooses the pestilence
14. After the death of 70,000, David by repentance prevents the destruction of Jerusalem
18. David, by Gad's direction, purchases Ornan's threshing floor;
26. where having built an altar, God gives a sign of his favor by fire.
28. David sacrifices there, being restrained from Gibeon by fear of the angel














(13) And David said.--Almost identical with Samuel. "Let me fall" looks like an improvement of Samuel, "Let us fall." The word "very" (not in Sam.) is perhaps an accidental repetition from the Hebrew of I am in a great strait.

Let me not fall.--Samuel has a precative form of the same verb ('epp?l?h; here 'epp?l).

David confesses inability to choose. So much only is clear to him, that it is better to be dependent on the compassion of God than of man; and thus, by implication he decides against the second alternative, leaving the rest to God. Famine, sword, and pestilence were each regarded as Divine visitations, but the last especially so, because of the apparent suddenness of its outbreak and the mysterious nature of its operation.

Verse 13. - It is in such answers as these - answers of equal piety and practical wisdom, that the difference is often visible between the man radically bad, and the man good at heart and the child of grace, even when fallen into the deepest depth of sin.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
David
דָּוִ֛יד (dā·wîḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

answered
וַיֹּ֧אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

Gad,
גָּ֖ד (gāḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1410: Gad -- a son of Jacob, also his tribe and its territory, also a prophet

“I am deeply distressed.
צַר־ (ṣar-)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6862: Narrow, a tight place, a pebble, an opponent

Please,
נָּ֣א (nā)
Interjection
Strong's 4994: I pray', 'now', 'then'

let me fall
אֶפְּלָה־ (’ep·pə·lāh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

into the hands
בְיַד־ (ḇə·yaḏ-)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3027: A hand

of the LORD,
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

for
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

His mercies [are]
רַחֲמָיו֙ (ra·ḥă·māw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7356: Compassion, the womb, a maiden

very
מְאֹ֔ד (mə·’ōḏ)
Adverb
Strong's 3966: Vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily

great;
רַבִּ֤ים (rab·bîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

but do not
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

let me fall
אֶפֹּֽל׃ (’ep·pōl)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

into the hands
וּבְיַד־ (ū·ḇə·yaḏ-)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3027: A hand

of men.”
אָדָ֖ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being


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OT History: 1 Chronicles 21:13 David said to Gad I am (1 Chron. 1Ch iCh i Ch 1 chr 1chr)
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