David Enrolls the Fighting Men^(A)

24 Again^(B) the anger of the Lord burned against Israel,^(C) and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of^(D) Israel and Judah.”

² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count^(A) the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”

³ But Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over.^(B) My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

⁴ The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. ⁵ Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel^(C) there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.