2 Samuel
Chapter 18
1 David counted the people with him and put leaders in charge of groups of a thousand and groups of a hundred.
2 David sent a third of the troops with Joab, another third with Abishai, Joab’s brother, and the last third with Ittai the Gittite. The king told the people, “I will definitely come with you too.”
3 The people said, “You must not go out: if we run away, they won’t bother with us; even if half of us die, they won’t bother. But you are as valuable as ten thousand of us. So it’s better for you to help us from inside the city.”
4 The king said to them, “I will do what you think is best.” The king stood by the gate, and all the people came out in groups of hundreds and thousands.
5 The king told Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Please be kind to the young man Absalom for me.” Everyone heard when the king ordered the captains to take care of Absalom.
6 The people went out to fight against Israel, and the battle happened in the forest of Ephraim.
7 The Israelites were killed by David’s men, and that day 20,000 men died in a big battle.
8 The fight spread out across the land, and the forest took more lives that day than the sword.
9 Absalom met David’s servants. Absalom rode on a mule, which passed under a big oak tree’s dense branches, and his head got stuck in the oak. He was left hanging between the sky and the ground, and the mule under him ran off.
10 A man saw this, told Joab, and said, “Look, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”
11 Joab said to the man who told him, “You saw him, so why didn’t you kill him right there? I would have given you ten silver coins and a belt.”
12 The man said to Joab, “Even if I got a thousand silver coins, I wouldn’t hurt the king’s son because we heard the king tell you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Don’t harm the young man Absalom.’”
13 Otherwise, I would have lied about my own life, because nothing is hidden from the king, and you would have opposed me.
14 Joab said, “I can’t wait like this with you.” He grabbed three sharp rods and stuck them into Absalom’s heart, while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree.
15 Ten young men carrying Joab’s weapons surrounded Absalom, attacked him, and killed him.
16 Joab sounded the trumpet, and the people stopped chasing Israel because Joab held them back.
17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big hole in the forest, and put a huge pile of stones on him; then all Israel ran away to their own tents.
18 While he was alive, Absalom set up a monument for himself in the King’s Valley because he said, “I have no son to carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and it is still called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
19 Then Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, said, “Let me run now and tell the king that God has taken revenge against his enemies for him.”
20 Joab told him, “You won’t bring news today, but you will bring news another day. Today you won’t bring any news, because the king’s son has died.”
21 Joab said to Cushi, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” Cushi bowed to Joab and ran.
22 Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, said to Joab again, “Please, let me run after Cushi.” Joab asked, “Why do you want to run, my son, when you have no news?”
23 He said, “Please let me run.” And the person told him, “Run.” So Ahimaaz ran through the flat land and passed Cushi.
24 David sat between the two gates, and the lookout went up to the roof over the gate, onto the wall, looked up, and saw a man running by himself.
25 The guard called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is alone, he brings news.” He hurried and got closer.
26 The guard saw another man running and called to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man is running by himself.” The king said, “He too is bringing news.”
27 The lookout said, I think the way the first one runs looks like Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son. And the king said, He’s a good man, coming with good news.
28 Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Everything is fine.” He bowed to the ground before the king and said, “Praise be to God, your God, who has handed over the men who raised their hand against my king.”
29 The king asked, “Is Absalom, the young man, okay?” Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and me, your servant, I saw a big commotion, but I didn’t know what it was about.”
30 The king told him, “Move over there and wait.” So he moved aside and waited.
31 Look, Cushi came and Cushi said, “News, my king: for God has punished those who were against you today.”
32 The king asked Cushi, “Is the young man Absalom okay?” Cushi replied, “May all the king’s enemies and those who wish to harm you be like that young man.”
33 The king was deeply upset and walked up to the room above the gate, crying. As he walked, he said, “Oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, I wish I had died instead of you, oh Absalom, my son, my son!”