2 Samuel 24:3-5

New Catholic Bible

³ Joab said to the king in response: “May the Lord, your God, increase the number of your people a hundredfold, and may the eyes of my lord the king live to see it. But why does my lord the king want to undertake this task?” ⁴ However, the king was determined to follow through on this enterprise, and he overruled Joab and the army commanders. Therefore, they departed from the presence of the king in order to take the census.

⁵ After crossing the Jordan, they began at Aroer and the town in the middle of the valley, and then they moved on toward Gad and Jazer.