2 SamuelChapter 18

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¹Then David counted his troops. He put commanders over them. Some led a thousand men, and some led a hundred. ²He sent out the troops in three groups. Joab led one third. Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah led one third. Ittai the Gittite led one third. The king told the troops, "I will surely march out with you too." ³But the people begged him, "You must not go out! If we have to run away, 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's better if you help us from the city." ⁴The king answered, "I will do whatever you think is best." So he stood beside the gate. All the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵The king gave an order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. He said, "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." All the people heard the king give this order about Absalom to each commander. ⁶So David's army marched out into the field to fight Israel. The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷There David's servants beat the people of Israel. Many were killed that day. Twenty thousand men died. ⁸The fighting spread over the whole countryside. That day the forest killed more people than the sword did. ⁹Absalom was riding his mule when he met David's servants. The mule went under the thick branches of a large oak tree. Absalom's head got stuck in the tree. The mule under him kept going. So he was left hanging in the air. ¹⁰One of the men saw this and told Joab. He said, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!" ¹¹Joab said, "You saw him! Why didn't you strike him down right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a soldier's belt!"a ¹²The man answered, "I would not lift my hand against the king's son. I wouldn't do it even for a thousand shekels of silver weighed out into my hands. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai. He said, 'Keep the young man Absalom safe for my sake.'b ¹³If I had put my own life in danger, you would have left me on my own. And nothing is hidden from the king." ¹⁴But Joab said, "I'm not going to wait around with you like this!" He took three spears in his hand. He drove them through Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵Then ten young men who carried Joab's armor surrounded Absalom. They struck him and killed him. ¹⁶Then Joab blew the ram's horn. The troops stopped chasing Israel, because Joab held them back. ¹⁷They took Absalom and threw him into a large pit in the forest. They piled a huge heap of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites ran away, each to his own home. ¹⁸While Absalom was alive, he had set up a stone pillar for himself in the King's Valley. He had said, "I have no son to keep my name alive." So he named the pillar after himself. To this day it is called Absalom's Monument. ¹⁹Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Please let me run and tell the king the good news. The LORD has paid back his enemies for him." ²⁰But Joab answered, "You are not the man to bring good news today. You may do it another day. But you must not do it today, because the king's son is dead." ²¹Then Joab said to a man from Cush, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The man bowed to Joab and ran off. ²²But Ahimaaz son of Zadok kept asking. He said to Joab, "No matter what, please let me run behind the man from Cush too!" Joab answered, "My son, why do you want to run? You won't get any reward for it." ²³He said, "No matter what, I want to run!" Joab told him, "Then run!" So Ahimaaz ran by the road through the plain. He passed the man from Cush. ²⁴David was sitting between the two gates of the city. The watchman went up to the roof over the gate, by the wall. He looked out and saw a man running alone. ²⁵So the watchman called out and told the king. The king said, "If he is alone, he is bringing good news." The first runner came closer and closer. ²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running. He called down to the gatekeeper, "Look! Another man is running alone!" The king said, "This one is bringing good news too." ²⁷The watchman said, "The first man runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." The king said, "He is a good man. He is coming with good news." ²⁸Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, "All is well!" He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. He said, "Praise the LORD your God! He has handed over the men who rose up against my lord the king." ²⁹The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "Joab sent the king's servant and me, your servant. Just then I saw a great uproar. But I don't know what it was." ³⁰The king said, "Step aside and stand here." So he stepped aside. ³¹Just then the man from Cush came. He said, "My lord the king, hear the good news! Today the LORD has paid back everyone who rose up against you!" ³²The king asked the man from Cush, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" The man answered, "May all the enemies of my lord the king end up like that young man. May all who rise up to hurt you end up like him." ³³The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gate and wept. As he walked, he cried out, "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son!"