² So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, ^(A)and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”

³ And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?”