1 Chronicles 21:1-3

EasyEnglish Bible

The Lord punishes the Israelites

21 Then Satan caused David to bring trouble to Israel.^[a] He caused David to count all the men in Israel. ² So David said to Joab and to the officers in his army, ‘Go and count the men everywhere in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan. Then come and give me a report. I want to know how many men there are.’

³ But Joab replied, ‘I pray that the Lord will make your army grow 100 times bigger! All your men are your faithful servants, my lord the king. But why do you want to do this? You will cause all Israel to become guilty.’