2 Samuel 18

¹ David reviewed the troops who were with him and appointed commanders of thousands andcommanders of hundreds to lead them.

² David divided the army into three groups, one under the command of Joab, another under thecommand of Abishai son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, and the third under the command of Ittai the Gittite.David then said to the troops, 'I shal take the field in person with you.'

³ But the troops replied, 'You are not to take the field. No one wil bother about us if we run away, theywil not even bother about us if half of us are kil ed, but you are ten thousand times more valuable. So it is betterif you stay inside the town, in case we need reinforcements.'

⁴ David said, 'I will do what you think best.' And the king stood beside the gate as the troops marchedout by their hundreds and their thousands.

⁵ The king gave orders to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, 'For my sake, treat young Absalom gently!' And thetroops all heard the king give al the commanders these orders about Absalom.

⁶ So the troops marched out into the open to engage Israel, and the battle took place in the Forest ofEphraim.

⁷ There, the army of Israel was beaten by David's retainers; it was a great defeat that day, with twentythousand casualties.

⁸ The fighting spread throughout the region and that day the forest claimed more victims than the sword.

⁹ Absalom happened to run into some of David's guards. Absalom was riding his mule and the mulepassed under the thick branches of a great oak. Absalom's head got caught in the oak and he was left hangingbetween heaven and earth, while the mule he was riding went on.

¹⁰ Someone saw this and reported to Joab, 'I have just seen Absalom hanging from an oak.'

¹¹ Joab said to the man who had informed him, 'If you saw him, why did you not strike him to theground then and there? I would have made it my business to give you ten silver shekels and a belt!'

¹² The man replied to Joab, 'Even if I could feel the weight of a thousand silver shekels in my hand, Iwould not lift my hand against the king's son. In our own hearing, the king gave you and Abishai and Ittai theseorders, "For my sake, spare young Absalom."

¹³ Even if I had deceived myself, nothing stays hidden from the king and you would have dissociatedyourself from me.'

¹⁴ Joab then said, 'I cannot waste time arguing with you!' And, taking three darts in his hand, he plantedthem in Absalom's heart, while he was stil alive, deep in the oak-tree.

¹⁵ Ten soldiers, Joab's armour-bearers, then came in close, struck Absalom and kil ed him.

¹⁶ Joab then had the trumpet sounded, and the troops left off pursuing Israel, since Joab held thetroops back.

¹⁷ They took Absalom, flung him into a deep pit in the forest and raised a huge cairn over him. Al theIsraelites had fled, dispersing to their homes.

¹⁸ Now, during his lifetime, Absalom had made and erected a pillar to himself, which is in the Val ey ofthe King. 'I have no son', he said, 'to preserve the memory of my name.' He gave his own name to the pil ar, andtoday it is still cal ed Absalom's Monument.

¹⁹ Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, 'Let me run and tel the king the good news that Yahweh has vindicatedhis cause by ridding him of his enemies.'

²⁰ But Joab said, 'Today you would be no bearer of good news, some other day you may be; but todayyou would not be bringing good news, since the king's son is dead.'

²¹ Joab then said to the Cushite, 'Go and tel the king what you have seen.' The Cushite prostratedhimself to Joab and ran off.

²² But Ahimaaz son of Zadok persisted. 'Come what may,' he said to Joab, 'please let me run after theCushite.' 'My son,' Joab said, 'why run? You wil get no reward for your news.'

²³ But he replied, 'Come what may, let me run!' and Joab said 'Run, then!' So Ahimaaz ran off along theroad through the Plain, outrunning the Cushite.

²⁴ David was sitting between the two gates. The sentry, having gone up to the roof of the gate, lookedout from the ramparts and saw a man running alone.

²⁵ The sentry cal ed down to the king and told him. The king said, 'If he is alone, he is bringing goodnews.'

²⁶ As the man drew steadily nearer, the lookout man saw another man running, and the sentry abovethe gate shouted, 'Here comes another man, running alone!' David said, 'He too is a bearer of good news.'

²⁷ The sentry said, 'I recognise the way the first man runs; Ahimaaz son of Zadok runs like that.' 'He is agood man', said the king, 'and comes with good news.'

²⁸ Ahimaaz went up to the king. 'All hail!' he said, prostrating himself on the ground before the king.'Blessed be Yahweh your God', he said, 'who has handed over the men who rebel ed against my lord the king!'

²⁹ 'Is al wel with young Absalom?' the king asked. Ahimaaz replied, 'I saw a great commotion whenJoab, the king's servant, sent your servant off, but I do not know what it was.'

³⁰ The king said, 'Go and stand over there.' He stood to one side and waited.

³¹ Then the Cushite arrived. 'Good news for my lord the king!' the Cushite shouted. 'Today Yahweh hasvindicated your cause, by ridding you of al who had risen up against you.'

³² 'Is al wel with young Absalom?' the king asked the Cushite. 'May the enemies of my lord the king',the Cushite answered, 'and al who rise up to harm you, share the fate of that young man!'