The Census Taken

24 ^(A)Now ^(B)the anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and He incited David against them to say, “^(C)Go, count Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, “Roam about now through all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “^(E)May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king can still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s order prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the presence of the king to conduct a census of the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped in ^(F)Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the Valley of Gad and toward ^(G)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to ^[a]the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to ^(H)Sidon, ⁷ then they came to the ^(I)fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(J)Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to ^(K)Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had roamed about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave ^(L)the number of the census of the people to the king: in Israel there were ^(M)eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ Now ^(N)David’s heart ^[b]troubled him after he had counted the people. So David said to the Lord, “^(O)I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, Lord, please ^[c]overlook the guilt of Your servant, for ^(P)I have acted very foolishly.”