2 Samuel 24:1-10
The Voice
24 Once again the Eternal grew angry with Israel; so He used David against them, telling the king to go and count the people of Israel and Judah. 2 David spoke to Joab, the commander of his army who was with him.
David: Travel to all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and take a census of the people. I want to know how many there are.
3 But Joab cautioned the king.
Joab: May the Eternal God increase the number of your people a hundred times while you are still alive to see it. But why on earth would you desire to do this, my king?
4 But the king’s order held, and Joab and the other leaders of the army left the king’s presence and went out to count the people of Israel. 5 To begin, they went over the Jordan River and camped at Aroer south of the city that is in the middle of the valley there. Then they moved on toward Gad and Jazer. 6 After that, they traveled to Gilead and to Tahtim-hodshi; then they traveled on north to Dan-jaan, and from Dan they went west to Sidon 7 and then to the fortified city of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Then they went south to the wilderness of Judah at Beersheba. 8 At last, when they had traveled through all the land, they came back to Jerusalem after 9 months and 20 days. 9 Joab reported these astonishing numbers to the king: Israel had 800,000 soldiers and Judah had 500,000.
10 After he heard this, David was overwhelmed with guilt for counting his subjects. He prayed to the Eternal One.
David: I have committed a great wrong against You. But please, O Eternal One, take away the guilt I feel, for I have done a stupid thing.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
