21:1 An adversary 1 opposed 2 Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had. 3 21:2 David told Joab and the leaders of the army, 4 “Go, count the number of warriors 5 from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.” 6 21:3 Joab replied, “May the Lord make his army 7 a hundred times larger! My master, O king, do not all of them serve my master? Why does my master want to do this? Why bring judgment on Israel?” 8
21:4 But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections. 9 So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem. 10 21:5 Joab reported to David the number of warriors. 11 In all Israel there were 1,100,000 12 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers. 13 21:6 Now Joab 14 did not number Levi and Benjamin, for the king’s edict disgusted him. 21:7 God was also offended by it, 15 so he attacked Israel.