1 Chronicles 21:1-6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
David’s Military Census
21 Satan[a](A) stood up against Israel and incited David(B) to count the people of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number.”(C)
3 Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over!(D) My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”
4 Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel and then returned to Jerusalem. 5 Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 swordsmen and in Judah itself 470,000 swordsmen. 6 But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king’s command was detestable to him.
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- 1 Chronicles 21:1 Or An adversary; Jb 1:6; Zch 3:1-2
1 Chronicles 21:1-6
International Standard Version
David’s Unauthorized Census(A)
21 Then Satan attacked Israel by inciting David to enumerate a census of Israel. 2 David ordered Joab and the commanders of the army,[a] “Go take a census of Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, and bring me a report so I can be aware of the total number.”
3 But Joab replied, “May the Lord increase the population of his people a hundredfold! Your majesty,[b] all of them are your majesty’s servants, aren’t they? So why should your majesty demand this? Why should he bring guilt to Israel?”
4 But the king’s order overruled Joab, so Joab left, traveled throughout all of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem 5 to report the total population count to David. Throughout all of Israel there were 1,100,000 men trained for war.[c] In Judah there were 470,000 men trained for war. 6 Levi and Benjamin were not included in the census, because what the king had commanded was unethical to Joab.
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- 1 Chronicles 21:2 Lit. people
- 1 Chronicles 21:3 Lit. my lord the king
- 1 Chronicles 21:5 Lit. men in wielding a sword
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