2 Samuel 24:3-5

New English Translation

³ Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God make the army a hundred times larger right before the eyes of my lord the king! But why does my master the king want to do this?”

⁴ But the king’s edict stood, despite the objections of^[a] Joab and the leaders of the army. So Joab and the leaders of the army left the king’s presence in order to muster the Israelite army.

⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, on the south side of the city, at^[b] the wadi of Gad, near Jazer.