David looked up and saw the Lord's messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.

When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.

But the Lord said to me: 'You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me, for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me.

He will build a temple to honor me; he will become my son, and I will become his father. I will grant to his dynasty permanent rule over Israel.'

David told the entire assembly: "Praise the Lord your God!" So the entire assembly praised the Lord God of their ancestors; they bowed down and stretched out flat on the ground before the Lord and the king.