David's Unauthorized Census Triggers a Plague That Kills 70,000 Men

Satan incites David to number Israel. Joab protests — why bring guilt on Israel? — but the king insists. The census takes nine months and twenty days. When it is done, God gives David a choice of three punishments: three years of famine, three months of fleeing enemies, or three days of pestilence. David chooses the sword of the Lord rather than the sword of men. The plague kills seventy thousand Israelites across the land. David sees the destroying angel hovering over Jerusalem with his sword drawn, and he falls on his face and pleads: let your hand be against me, not my people.