1   David mustered the people who were with him, and appointed officers over units of a thousand and a hundred. 2   Then he divided the army in three, one division under the command of Joab, one under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and the third under Ittai the Gittite. The king announced to the army that he was coming out himself with them to battle. 3   But they said, ‘No, you must not come out; if we turn and run, no one will take any notice, nor will they, even if half of us are killed; but you ^note are worth ten thousand of us, and it would be better now for you to remain in the city ^note in support.’ 4   ‘I will do what you think best’, answered the king; and he then stood beside the gate, and the army marched past in their units of a thousand and a hundred. 5   The king gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: ‘Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake.’ The whole army heard the king giving all his officers this order to spare Absalom.

6   The army took the field against the Israelites and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephron. ^note 7   There the Israelites were routed before the onslaught of David's men; so great was the rout that twenty thousand men fell that day. 8   The fighting spread over the whole country-side, and the forest took toll of more people that day than the sword.

9   Now some of David's men caught sight of Absalom. He was riding a mule and, as it passed beneath a great oak, ^note his head was caught in its boughs; he found himself in mid air and the mule went on from under him. 10   One of the men who saw it went and told Joab, ‘I saw Absalom hanging from an oak.’ 11   While the man was telling him, Joab broke in, ‘You saw him? Why did you not strike him to the ground then and there? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.’ 12   The man answered, ‘If you were to put in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lift a finger against the king's son; for we all heard the king giving orders to you and Abishai and Ittai that whoever finds himself near the young man Absalom must take great care of him. 13   If I had dealt him a treacherous blow, the king would soon have known, and you would have kept well out of it.’ 14   ‘That is a lie!’ said Joab.

Absalom's rebellion and other conflicts ‘I will make a start and show you.’ ^noteSo he picked up three stout sticks and drove them against Absalom's chest while he was held fast in the tree and still alive. 15   Then ten young men who were Joab's armour-bearers closed in on Absalom, struck at him and killed him. 16   Joab sounded the trumpet, and the army came back from the pursuit of Israel because he had called it off. 17   They took Absalom's body and flung it into a great pit in the forest, and raised over it a huge pile of stones. The Israelites all fled to their homes.

18   The pillar in the King's Vale had been set up by Absalom in his lifetime, for he said, ‘I have no son to carry on my name.’ He had named the pillar after himself; and to this day it is called Absalom's Monument.

19   Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, ‘Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has avenged him and delivered him from his enemies.’ 20   But Joab replied, ‘This is no day for you to be the bearer of news. Another day you may have news to carry, but not today, because the king's son is dead.’ 21   Joab told a Cushite to go and report to the king what he had seen. The Cushite bowed low before Joab and set off running. 22   Ahimaaz pleaded again with Joab, ‘Come what may,’ he said, ‘let me run after the Cushite.’ ‘Why should you, my son?’ asked Joab. ‘You will get no reward for your news.’ 23   ‘Come what may,’ he said, ‘I will run.’ ‘Go, then’, said Joab. So Ahimaaz ran by the road through the Plain of the Jordan and outstripped the Cushite.

24   David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gatehouse by the wall and, looking out, saw a man running alone. 25   The watchman called to the king and told him. ‘If he is alone,’ said the king, ‘then he has news.’ The man came nearer and nearer. 26   Then the watchman saw another man running. He called down to the gate-keeper and said, ‘Look, there is another man running alone.’ 27   The king said, ‘He too brings news.’ The watchman said, ‘I see by the way he runs that the first runner is Ahimaaz son of Zadok.’ The king said, ‘He is a good fellow and shall earn the reward for good news.’ 28   Ahimaaz called out to the king, ‘All is well!’ He bowed low before him and said, ‘Blessed be the Lord your God who has given into your hands the men who rebelled against your majesty.’ 29   The king asked, ‘Is all well with the young man Absalom?’ Ahimaaz answered, ‘Sir, your servant Joab sent me, ^note I saw a great commotion, but I did not know what had happened.’ 30   The king told him to stand on one side; so he turned aside and stood there. 31   Then the Cushite came in and said, ‘Good news, your majesty! The Lord has avenged you this day on all those who rebelled against you.’ 32   The king said to the Cushite, ‘Is all

Absalom's rebellion and other conflicts well with the young man Absalom?’ The Cushite answered, ‘May all the king's enemies and all rebels who would do you harm be as that young man is.’ 33    ^noteThe king was deeply moved and went up to the roofchamber over the gate and wept, crying out as he went, ‘O, my son! Absalom my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son.’

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