2 Samuel 24:2-4

Living Bible

² 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.”

³ 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]

⁴ But the king’s command overcame Joab’s remonstrance; so Joab and the other army officers went out to count the people of Israel.