David and the Census of the People

24 Again Yahweh was angry with Israel, and he^[a] incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” ² The king said to Joab, the commander of the army who was with him: “Please go about through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people that I may know the number of the people.” ³ Then Joab said to the king, “May Yahweh your God increase the people a hundred times what they are^[b] as the eyes of my lord the king are seeing. But my lord the king, why does he desire this thing?” ⁴ But the word of the king prevailed over Joab and over the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed over the Jordan and camped at Aroer to the south of the city, which was in the middle of the wadi of Gad, and up to Jazer. ⁶ Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi. They came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon ⁷ and came to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the Negev of Judah at Beersheba. ⁸ They went about through all the land, and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹ Then Joab gave the number of the counting of the people to the king. Israel was eight hundred thousand valiant warriors^[c] wielding the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand. ¹⁰ The heart of David struck him after he had counted the people, and David said to Yahweh, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done! So then, O Yahweh, please forgive the guilt of your servant because I have acted very foolishly.”