| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, "I myself will surely march out with you." |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3But the men said, "You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city." |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4The king answered, "I will do whatever seems best to you." So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6David's army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7There Israel's troops were routed by David's men, and the casualties that day were great--twenty thousand men. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree." |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Joab said to the man who had told him this, "What! You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior's belt." |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12But the man replied, "Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king's son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.' |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13And if I had put my life in jeopardy --and nothing is hidden from the king--you would have kept your distance from me." |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this for you." So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15And ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, "I have no son to carry on the memory of my name." He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Let me run and take the news to the king that the LORD has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies." |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20"You are not the one to take the news today," Joab told him. "You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king's son is dead." |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21Then Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, "Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite." But Joab replied, "My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward." |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23He said, "Come what may, I want to run." So Joab said, "Run!" Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, "If he is alone, he must have good news." And the runner came closer and closer. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look, another man running alone!" The king said, "He must be bringing good news, too." |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27The watchman said, "It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." "He's a good man," the king said. "He comes with good news." |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, "All is well!" He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, "Praise be to the LORD your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king." |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king's servant and me, your servant, but I don't know what it was." |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30The king said, "Stand aside and wait here." So he stepped aside and stood there. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31Then the Cushite arrived and said, "My lord the king, hear the good news! The LORD has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you." |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man." |
| 33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O Absalom, my son, my son!" |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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