2 Samuel 24:1–9

David Counts His Army

24The Lord was angry with Israel again, and he caused David to turn against the Israelites. He said, “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”

²So King David said to Joab, the commander of the army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, ⁿ and count the people. Then I will know how many there are.”

³But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God give you a hundred times more people, and may my master the king live to see this happen. Why do you want to do this?”

⁴But the king commanded Joab and the commanders of the army, so they left the king to count the Israelites.

⁵After crossing the Jordan River, they camped near Aroer on the south side of the city in the ravine. They went through Gad and on to Jazer. ⁶Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim Hodshi and to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon. ⁷They went to the strong, walled city of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went to southern Judah, to Beersheba. ⁸After nine months and twenty days, they had gone through all the land. Then they came back to Jerusalem.

⁹Joab gave the list of the people to the king. There were eight hundred thousand men in Israel who could use the sword and five hundred thousand men in Judah.