1 Chronicles 21:2
Verse 2 of 30. The 21st of 29 chapters in 1 Chronicles, in History.
1Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.
2David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know how many there are.”
3Joab said, “May the LORD make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?”
4Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, then came to Jerusalem.
5Joab gave the sum of the census of the people to David. All those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew a sword; and in Judah were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew a sword.
6But he didn’t count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.
World English Bible. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.