King David called for Joab and said, “Go
throughout the land and number all the
people.” He did this to see how big of an army
he could build.
Joab knew this wasn’t God’s will for David. He
said, “Don’t disobey the Lord. God will give you
as many people as you need for any situation.”
But David insisted, so Joab used his army to
go to every part of Israel and count the people.
When they were finished, he told David there
were over 1,300,000 men who were able to go to
war if needed.
After David heard this report, he knew the
Lord wasn’t pleased that he had done this. He
prayed, “Oh God, I’ve acted foolishly and sinned
against you. Forgive my sin.”
The Lord sent a prophet to give David a
message. “You’re to choose one of three
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