2 Samuel 24:3-5

Expanded Bible

³ But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God give you a hundred times more ·people [soldiers], and may my master the king live to see this happen. ·Why do you [^LBut why does my lord the king] want to do this?”

⁴ But the ·king commanded [^Lking’s word overruled/prevailed against] Joab and the commanders of the army, so they left the king to ·count [take a census of; register; number] the Israelites [^Ctaking the census indicates David’s ungodly dependence on the number of his troops].

⁵ After crossing the Jordan River, they camped near Aroer on the south side of the city in the ·ravine [valley]. They went through Gad and on to Jazer.