So the king said to Joab the commander of the military force who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and take a census of the people, that I may know the total count of the people.”
Joab the son of Zeruiah had begun to number them, but did not finish; and because of this, wrath came upon Israel, and this count was not included in the total count of the chronicles of King David.
Then the angel of Yahweh went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And the men arose early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies.
¶O Yahweh, I have heard the report about You, and I fear. O Yahweh, revive Your work in the midst of the years; In the midst of the years make it known; In rage remember compassion.
Then I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and he who sits on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Then He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.