2 Samuel 18:1-14

1Then David reviewed his troops and appointed over them commanders of thousands and of hundreds. 2He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”

3But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will not care about us. Even if half of us die, they will not care. But you are worth ten thousand of us.1 It is better now if you support us from the city.”

4“I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

5Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.

6So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men. 8The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.

9Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak,2 Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair. 10When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

11“You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver3 and a warrior’s belt!”

12The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver4 were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.5’ 13If I had jeopardized my own life6—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.”

14But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree.