2 Samuel 18:1-14

The Death of Absalom

18¹ And David inspecteth the people who 'are' with him, and setteth over them heads of thousands and heads of hundreds, ² and David sendeth the third of the people by the hand of Joab, and the third by the hand of Abishai, son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, and the third by the hand of Ittai the Gittite, and the king saith unto the people, 'I certainly go out—I also—with you.' ³ And the people say, 'Thou dost not go out, for if we utterly flee, they do not set 'their' heart upon us; and if half of us die, they do not set 'their' heart unto us—for now like us 'are' ten thousand; and now, better that thou be to us from the city for an helper.' ⁴ And the king saith unto them, 'That which is good in your eyes I do;' and the king standeth at the side of the gate, and all the people have gone out by hundreds and by thousands, ⁵ and the king chargeth Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, 'Gently—for me, for the youth, for Absalom;' and all the people heard in the king's charging all the heads concerning Absalom. ⁶ And the people goeth out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle is in a forest of Ephraim; ⁷ and smitten there are the people of Israel before the servants of David, and the smiting there is great on that day—twenty thousand; ⁸ and the battle is there scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest multiplieth to devour among the people more than those whom the sword hath devoured in that day.

⁹ And Absalom meeteth before the servants of David, and Absalom is riding on the mule, and the mule cometh in under an entangled bough of the great oak, and his head taketh hold on the oak, and he is placed between the heavens and the earth, and the mule that 'is' under him hath passed on. ¹⁰ And one man seeth, and declareth to Joab, and saith, 'Lo, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.' ¹¹ And Joab saith to the man who is declaring 'it' to him, 'And lo, thou hast seen—and wherefore didst thou not smite him there to the earth—and on me to give to thee ten silverlings and one girdle?' ¹² And the man saith unto Joab, 'Yea, though I am weighing on my hand a thousand silverlings, I do not put forth my hand unto the son of the king; for in our ears hath the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Observe ye who 'is' against the youth—against Absalom; ¹³ or I had done against my soul a vain thing, and no matter is hid from the king, and thou—thou dost station thyself over-against.' ¹⁴ And Joab saith, 'Not right—I tarry before thee;' and he taketh three darts in his hand, and striketh them into the heart of Absalom, while he 'is' alive, in the midst of the oak.