24:15-17
So the Lord sent a plague against Israel, and seventy thousand people died as a result. The angel of the Lord, who was executing the judgement, seems to have got carried away and was about to destroy Jerusalem. However, the Lord “relented” at that point and told the angel to stop. David saw the angel and repents again. He pleads with God to stop afflicting the people, but instead to let the judgement fall on David himself.
24:18-20
Gad again speaks to David. The angle had stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and Gad tells David to build an altar there. So David carries out the command. When he goes to Araunah’s house, Araunah comes and bows down before David. Remember that earlier David had put things right with the Jebusites (albeit in a rather cack-handed manner).
24:21-25
David did not try to just take the threshing-floor, but came to buy it. Araunah offered to give it to David, along with other bits and pieces. However, David insisted on paying for it. It was a sacrifice to the Lord, and would have been no sacrifice at all if David had not paid for it. So David paid the set price and built an altar there. He made sacrifices and the plague came to an end. And so ends 2 Samuel.
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