2 Samuel 18:1-15 ▼

1 And David numbered the people who were with him, and he set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds.

2 And David sent out a third of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third under the hand of Abishai son of Zeruiah the brother of Joab, and a third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I will surely go out—I also with you?.”

3 And the people answered, “You shall not go out, for if we surely flee, they will not set the heart on us. If half of us die, they will not set the heart on us, but now you are like ten thousand of us, for now you are more to us in the city for a helper.”

4 And the king said to them, “That which seems best in your? eyes I will do.” And the king stood at the side of the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.

5 And the king had commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Be gentle for my sake with the young man, Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders all the captains concerning Absalom.

6 And the people went out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.

7 And the people of Israel were struck there before the faces of the servants of David, and there took place that day a great slaughter of twenty thousand.

8 For the battle there was scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest multiplied to devour the people more than the sword devoured that day.

9 And Absalom met before the face of the servants of David. And Absalom rode on a mule. And the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught in the oak. And he was left hanging between the heavens and between the earth, and the mule that was under him went on.

10 And a man saw it and told Joab, and he said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

11 And Joab said to the man who told him, “And behold, you saw him, and why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given to you ten shekels of silver and one belt.”

12 And the man said to Joab, “Even if I was weighing in my hands a thousand shekels of silver, I would not have sent out my hand against the son of the king. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect for my sake the young man Absalom.’

13 And if I had done against my soul a falsehood—For no matter is hidden from the king—then you would have set yourself against me.”

14 And Joab said, “Not thus will I wait to your face.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.

15 And surrounded ten young men who bore weapons of Joab, and they struck Absalom and killed him.