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mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 Then David sent out the troops, with a third under the command of Joab, a third under the command of Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you also.”
3 But the men said, “You must not go out! For if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us are killed, they won’t care, for you are worth ten thousand of us. So it would be far better for you to support us from the city.”
4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”
So the king stood beside the gate while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Treat gently the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders to each of the commanders about Absalom.
6 So the army marched out into the open ground to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 The Israelite army was defeated there by David’s men, and the slaughter that day was very great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword.
9 Now Absalom happened to encounter some of David’s men when he was riding his mule. As the mule was going under the thick, tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule he was riding kept going.
10 One of the men saw it and told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”
11 Joab said to the man who told him, “What! You saw this? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.”
12 But the man answered Joab, “Even if I had a thousand shekels of silver weighed out in my hands, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake’. 13 On the other hand, if I had placed my own life in jeopardy—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have stood aloof.”
14 Joab said, “I’m not going to waste time here with you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s heart while he was still alve in the oak tree. 15 And ten young men who bore Joab’s armour surrounded Absalom, and they struck him and killed him.
16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops broke off pursuing the Israelites, because Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom and threw him into a large pit in the forest, and piled up a large heap of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their own homes.
18 During his lifetime Absalom had erected a pillar in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
19 Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and tell the king the good news that the Lord has delivered him from his enemies.”
20 But Joab told him, “You are not the one to take the news today. You may take the news some other day, but today you will not do so, because the king’s son is dead.”
21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you’ve seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and ran off.
22 Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.” But Joab replied, “Why do you want to run, my son, since you don’t have any news that will bring you a reward?”
23 “No matter what, I want to run,” he replied.
“Then run,” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and he outran the Cushite.
24 Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As the watchman looked out, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out and told the king.
The king said, “If he is alone, he brings news to report.” As the man rapidly approached, 26 the watchman saw another man running. So he called out to the gatekeeper, “Look, there is another man running alone!”
The king said, “He is also bringing news to report.”
27 The watchman said, “I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”
“He is a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”
28 Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “All is well!” Then he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God! He has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.”
29 The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
Ahimaaz answered, “I saw a large disturbance just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant, and I, your servant, but I don’t know what it was about.”
30 The king said, “Move aside and stand here.” So he stepped aside and waited.
31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, there is good news! The Lord has delivered you this day from all who rose up against you!”
32 The 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 against you to do you harm, be like that young man.”
33 The king was shaken. He went up to the upper chamber 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!”