2 Samuel 24:1–9

David Enrolls the Fighting Men

24:1–17pp—1Ch 21:1–17

24Again^h the anger of the Lord burned against Israel,ⁱ and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of^j Israel and Judah.”

²So the king said to Joab^k and the army commanders^a with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba^l and enroll^m the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

³But Joabⁿ replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over,^o and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

⁴The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.

⁵After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer,^p south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer.^{q 6}They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon.^{r 7}Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre^s and all the towns of the Hivites^t and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba^u in the Negev^v of Judah.

⁸After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.^w