2 Samuel 18 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

David organized the troops who were with him, appointing commanders over groups of a thousand and commanders over groups of a hundred.

David sent the troops out — a third under Joab's command, a third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai from Gath. The king told the troops, "I'm going to march out with you myself."

But the troops said, "You must not come out with us. If we have to retreat, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care. But you — you're worth ten thousand of us. It's better for you to support us from the city."

The king said to them, "I'll do whatever seems best to you." So the king stood beside the gate as all the troops marched out in their groups of hundreds and thousands.

The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, "For my sake, deal gently with the young man — with Absalom." And all the troops heard the king give this order about Absalom to every commander.

The troops marched out into the field to face Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.

Israel's forces were defeated there by David's men, and the slaughter that day was massive — twenty thousand casualties.

The fighting spread across the whole countryside, and the forest consumed more troops that day than the sword did.

Absalom happened to run into David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak tree, Absalom's head got caught in the oak. He was left hanging in midair while the mule kept going right out from under him.

A man saw it and reported to Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!"

Joab said to the man who reported it, "You saw him?! Why didn't you strike him down right there? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a warrior's belt!"

But the man said to Joab, "Even if I had a thousand pieces of silver in my hands, I wouldn't raise my hand against the king's son. We all heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai: 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.'"

"And if I had done it — and nothing stays hidden from the king — you yourself would have stepped back and let me take the blame."

Joab said, "I'm not going to stand here waiting around with you." He grabbed three sharpened sticks and thrust them into Absalom's chest while Absalom was still alive, hanging in the oak tree.

Then ten of Joab's young armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and finished him off.

Then Joab blew the ram's horn, and the troops stopped chasing Israel, because Joab called them back.

They took Absalom's body, threw it into a deep pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over it. Meanwhile, all of Israel's troops fled, each man to his own home.

While he was alive, Absalom had set up a stone pillar for himself in the King's Valley, because he said, "I have no son to carry on my name." He named the pillar after himself, and to this day it's still called Absalom's Monument.

Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Let me run and bring the king the good news that Yahweh has vindicated him against his enemies!"

But Joab told him, "You're not the right person to carry the news today. You can carry news some other time, but not today — because the king's son is dead."

Then Joab said to a Cushite soldier, "Go tell the king what you've seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

Ahimaaz son of Zadok pressed Joab again: "No matter what happens, please let me run after the Cushite!" Joab said, "Why do you want to run, my son? You won't get any reward for this news."

"No matter what, I want to run!" he said. So Joab told him, "Then run!" Ahimaaz took the route through the Jordan plain and outran the Cushite.

David was sitting between the two gates. The watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone.

The watchman called down and told the king. The king said, "If he's alone, he's bringing news." The runner kept getting closer.

Then the watchman spotted another man running. The watchman called down to the gatekeeper, "There's another man running alone!" The king said, "He's also bringing news."

The watchman said, "The first runner looks like he runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." The king said, "He's a good man. He'll be coming with good news."

Ahimaaz called out to the king, "All is well!" He bowed facedown before the king and said, "Praise Yahweh your God! He has handed over the men who raised their hand against my lord the king."

The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "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."

The king said, "Step aside and stand here." So Ahimaaz stepped aside and waited.

Then the Cushite arrived and said, "Good news for my lord the king! Yahweh has vindicated you today against everyone who rose up against you!"

The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" The Cushite replied, "May all the enemies of my lord the king — and everyone who rises up to harm you — end up like that young man."

The king was shattered. He went up to the room above the gate and wept. As he walked, he cried out: "My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you — Absalom, my son, my son!"