6. They went to Gilead and the area of Tahtim Hodshi. They continued to Dan Jaan and on around toward Sidon.
7. Then they went toward the fort of Tyre. They went to all of the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba. It was in the Negev Desert of Judah.
8. They finished going through the entire land. Then they came back to Jerusalem. They had been gone for nine months and 20 days.
9. Joab reported to the king how many fighting men he had counted. In Israel there were 800,000 men who were able to handle a sword. In Judah there were 500,000.
10. David felt sorry that he had counted the fighting men. So he said to the Lord, "I committed a great sin when I counted Judah and Israel's men. Lord, I beg you to take away my guilt. I've done a very foolish thing."
11. Before David got up the next morning, a message from the Lord came to the prophet Gad. He was David's seer. The message said,
12. "Go and tell David, 'The Lord says, "I could punish you in three different ways. Choose one of them for me to use against you." ' "