I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth!

The LORD took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that."

"You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men

called together the whole community on the first day of the second month and registered all the people by clans and families. The names of all the men twenty years old or older were recorded and counted,

When King Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. He intended to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel.

Abijah raised an army of 400,000 soldiers, and Jeroboam opposed him with an army of 800,000.

King Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, armed with shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin, armed with shields and bows. All of them were brave, well-trained men.

Under them were 307,500 soldiers able to fight effectively for the king against his enemies.