Bible Verses About Armies

When Aram saw that Isra'el had gotten the better of them, they gathered themselves together.

Hadad'ezer sent and brought out the people of Aram who lived beyond the [Euphrates] River. They came to Heilam with Shovakh the commander of Hadad'ezer's army at their head.

David took a census of the people who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and of hundreds.

Then David dispatched the people, a third of them under the command of Yo'av, a third under Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah, Yo'av's brother, and a third under Ittai the Gitti; and the king said to the people, "I will also go out with you, myself."

Once again the P'lishtim made war on Isra'el. David went down with his servants and fought against the P'lishtim, but David began to get tired.

Yishbi-B'nov, one of the sons of the giant, said that he would kill David; his spear weighed seven pounds, and he was wearing new armor.

But Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah came to David's rescue by striking the P'lishti and killing him. Then David's men swore to him, "You must no longer go out with us to battle, in order not to quench the lamp of Isra'el."

A while after this there was again war with the P'lishtim, at Gov. Sibkhai the Hushati killed Saf, one of the sons of the giant.

There was more war with the P'lishtim at Gov; and Elchanan the son of Ya'arei-Orgim, the Beit-Lachmi, killed Golyat the Gitti, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's beam.

There was again war at Gat, where there was a belligerent man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot - twenty-four in all - and he too was a son of the giant.

When he mocked Isra'el, Y'honatan the son of Shim'ah David's brother killed him.

These four were sons of the giant in Gat; they fell at the hands of David and his servants.

The anger of ADONAI blazed up against Isra'el, so he moved David to act against them by saying, "Go, take a census of Isra'el and Y'hudah."

The king said to Yo'av the commander of the army, who was with him, "Go systematically through all the tribes of Isra'el, from Dan to Be'er-Sheva; and take a census of the population; so that I can know how many people there are."

Yo'av said to the king, "May ADONAI your God add to the people a hundredfold, no matter how many there are; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this?"

However, the king's word prevailed against Yo'av and the army officers. So Yo'av and the army officers went out from the king's presence to take a census of the people of Isra'el.

They crossed the Yarden and pitched camp in 'Aro'er, to the south of the city in the Vadi of Gad; went on to Ya'zer;

came to Gil'ad and continued to the land of Tachtim-Hodshi. Then they arrived at Dan-Ya'an, went around to Tzidon

and came to the stronghold of Tzor. They went on to the cities of the Hivi and of the Kena'ani, and finished in the south of Y'hudah, at Be'er-Sheva.

When they were done going through all the land, they came back to Yerushalayim; it had taken nine months and twenty days.

Yo'av reported the results of the census to the king: there were in Isra'el 800,000 valiant men who could handle a sword, while the men of Y'hudah numbered 500,000.

For three years there was no war between Aram and Isra'el.

Then, in the third year, Y'hoshafat the king of Y'hudah came down to the king of Isra'el.

The king of Isra'el said to his servants, "Are you aware that Ramot-Gil'ad belongs to us; yet, we're doing nothing to recover it from the king of Aram?"

He said to Y'hoshafat, "Will you go with me to attack Ramot-Gil'ad?" Y'hoshafat answered the king of Isra'el, "I'm with you all the way; think of my troops and horses as yours."