²So the king spoke to Joab and the army commanders who were with him. He said, “Go all through the territories of the tribes of Israel. Go from Dan all the way to Beersheba. Count the fighting men. Then I’ll know how many there are.”

³Joab replied to the king. He said, “King David, you are my master. May the Lord your God multiply the troops 100 times. And may you live to see it. But why would you want me to count the fighting men?”

⁴In spite of what Joab said, the king’s word had more authority than the word of Joab and the army commanders did. So they left the king and went out to count the fighting men of Israel.

⁵They went across the Jordan River. They camped south of the town in the middle of the Arnon River valley near Aroer. Then they went through Gad and continued on to Jazer. ⁶They went to Gilead and the area of Tahtim Hodshi. They continued to Dan Jaan and on around toward Sidon. ⁷Then they went toward the fort of Tyre. They went to all of the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba. It was in the Negev Desert of Judah.

⁸They finished going through the entire land. Then they came back to Jerusalem. They had been gone for nine months and 20 days.

⁹Joab reported to the king how many fighting men he had counted. In Israel there were 800,000 men who were able to handle a sword. In Judah there were 500,000.

¹⁰David felt sorry that he had counted the fighting men. So he said to the Lord, “I committed a great sin when I counted Judah and Israel’s men. Lord, I beg you to take away my guilt. I’ve done a very foolish thing.”

¹¹Before David got up the next morning, a message from the Lord came to the prophet Gad. He was David’s seer. The message said, ¹²“Go and tell David, ‘The Lord says, “I could punish you in three different ways. Choose one of them for me to use against you.” ’ ”

¹³So Gad went to David. He said to him, “Take your choice. Do you want three years when there won’t be enough food in your land? Or do you want three months when you will run away from your enemies while they chase you? Or do you want three days when there will be a plague in your land? Think it over. Then take your pick. Tell me how to answer the One who sent me.”

¹⁴David said to Gad, “I’m suffering terribly. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord. His mercy is great. But don’t let me fall into the hands of men.”

¹⁵So the Lord sent a plague on Israel. It lasted from that morning until he decided to end it. From Dan all the way to Beersheba 70,000 people died.

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