Go and say to David is literally “Go and you will say to David, saying.” In some languages it will be more appropriate to begin this verse with “Go find David and tell him” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

Thus says the LORD: See the comments on 1 Chr 17.4.

Three things I offer you is literally “Three I offer you.” Most languages will add a noun after the number Three, for example, “three alternatives” (New American Bible), “three options” (New International Version), “three choices” (Good News Translation), or perhaps better “three punishments” (Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur; similarly American Bible).

Choose one of them, that I may do it to you is literally “choose for yourself one of them….”

What Gad says to David in verse 12 is much longer than what the LORD instructs Gad in this verse to say to David. Either Gad added to the words of the LORD in verse 12, or the direct quotation in this verse does not tell us all that the LORD said to him. Almost certainly the latter is true, but translators may find it difficult to handle this problem in their own languages. The reader is to understand that only half of God’s message to David is stated here in verse 10. The rest of the message is given as Gad’s words to David in verse 12.

This verse contains three levels of quotation that may prove to be extremely difficult to imitate in some languages. Good News Translation and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy simplify the structure by using only one level, and so does Contemporary English Version with “Tell David that I will punish him in one of three ways. But he will have to choose which one it will be.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .