5 They crossed the Jordan River and began from Aroer and from the town that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, then on to Jazer.
6 They continued to Gilead and on to Kadesh in Hittite territory. They came to Dan and went around to Sidon.
7 They went to the fortress of Tyre and to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites. They went out to Beer-sheba in the arid southern plain of Judah.
8 At the end of nine months and twenty days, after going through the entire country, they came back to Jerusalem.
9 Joab reported to the king the number of the people who had been counted: in Israel there were eight hundred thousand strong men who could handle a sword; in Judah the total was five hundred thousand men.
10 But after this David felt terrible that he had counted the people. David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, please take away the guilt of your servant because I have done something very foolish."
11 When David got up the next morning, the Lord’s word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer: