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So the king said to Joab, commander-in-chief of his army, “Take a census of all the people from one end of the nation to the other, so that I will know how many of them there are.”

But Joab replied, “God grant that you will live to see the day when there will be a hundred times as many people in your kingdom as there are now! But you have no right to rejoice in their strength.”[a]

But the king’s command overcame Joab’s remonstrance; so Joab and the other army officers went out to count the people of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 24:3 But you have no right to rejoice in their strength, literally, “But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”

So the king said to Joab(A) and the army commanders[a] with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba(B) and enroll(C) the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

But Joab(D) replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over,(E) and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 24:2 Septuagint (see also verse 4 and 1 Chron. 21:2); Hebrew Joab the army commander