2 Samuel 18–19

Absalom Dies in Battle

18Then David mustered the people who were with him, and he appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ²David sent forth a third of the troops under the command of Joab,^a and a third under the command of Abishai,^b the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the remaining third under the command of Ittai^c the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I, even I, will certainly go out^d with you.” ³Then the troops said, “You will not go out, for if we must flee,^e then they will not care about us;^f even if half of us die, they will not care about us,^g but now, you are like ten thousand of us. And so then, it is better for us that you be in the city to help.” ⁴The king said to them, “I will do what seems good in your eyes.” So the king stood at the side of the gate while all of the troops went out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “With respect to the young man Absalom, deal gently for me.” And all the troops heard when the king ordered all of the commanders concerning the matter of Absalom.

⁶The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷The army of Israel was defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand. ⁸The battle there was spreading over the surface of all the land, and the forest devoured more among the army than^h the sword did on that day. ⁹Absalom was found in the presence of the servants of David as he was riding on the mule. The mule went under the thicket of the great oak tree, and his head was caught in the tree. He was left hanging between heaven and earth, and the mule which was under him went on. ¹⁰When a certain man saw it, he told Joab, and he said, “Look, I saw Absalom hanging in the oak tree!” ¹¹Then Joab said to the man who was telling him, “Look, if you saw, why did you not strike him down to the ground there? I would have gladly given youⁱ ten pieces of silver and a leather belt.” ¹²The man said to Joab, “Even if I felt the weight^j of a thousand pieces of silver in my palms, I would not have sent my hand against the son of the king, for in our ears the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Whoever you may be, protect the young man Absalom.’ ¹³If I had dealt treacherously against his life, and there is not any matter hidden from the king, you would have presented yourself aloof.”^{k 14}Joab said, “No longer will I wait in your presence.” Then he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵Then ten of the young men who bore the weapons of Joab surrounded him and struck and killed Absalom. ¹⁶Then Joab blew on the trumpet and the troops returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab kept back the troops. ¹⁷They took Absalom and they threw him into the large pit in the forest and raised a very great heap of stones over him. Then all of Israel fled, each to his tent.

¹⁸(Now Absalom had taken and set up for himself in his lifetime a stone pillar that is in the valley of the king, because he said, “I have no son in order to remember my name,” and he called the stone pillar by his name. It is called the monument of Absalom until this day). ¹⁹Now Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and bring the good news to the king that Yahweh has vindicated him from the hand of his enemies.” ²⁰Joab said to him, “You will not be a man bringing^l good news this day! You may bring good news on another day, but today you will not be bringing good news because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen”; then the Cushite bowed down to Joab and ran off. ²²Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may,^m please let me also run after the Cushite.” Joab asked, “Why are you wanting to run, my son, when for you there is no messenger’s reward?”^{n 23}“Come what may,^o I want to run.” He said to him, “Run,” so Ahimaaz ran on the road on the plain, and he passed the Cushite.

²⁴Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and he lifted up his eyes and watched, and look, a man was running by himself. ²⁵The sentry called and told the king, and the king said, “If he is alone, good news is in his mouth.” He kept coming closer.^{p 26}Then the sentinel saw another man running, so the sentinel called to the gatekeeper and said, “Look, a man running alone.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.” ²⁷The sentinel said, “I am seeing that the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man; he will come, for good news.” ²⁸Then Ahimaaz called and said to the king, “Peace.” He bowed down to the king with his face to the ground, and he said, “May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delivered the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” ²⁹The king said, “Is it peace for the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz said, “I saw the great commotion when Joab the servant of the king sent your servant, but I do not know what it was all about.” ³⁰Then the king said, “Turn aside, take your place here,” so he turned aside and waited. ³¹Suddenly the Cushite arrived and said, “May my lord the king receive the good news, for Yahweh has vindicated you today from the power of all who stood up against you.” ³²The king said to the Cushite, “Is it peace for the young man Absalom?” Then the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you^q be like the young man!” ^33r The king was upset, and he went up to the upper room of the gate and wept. He said as he went, “My son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom. If only^s I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son.”

King David Weeps for Absalom

19And it was told to Joab that the king was weeping and he mourned over Absalom, ²so the victory turned to mourning on that day for all the army, because they had heard that day, “The king is grieving over his son.” ³The army came secretly^a into the city on that day because the army was disgraced when they fled in the battle, ⁴and because the king had covered his face and cried with a loud voice, “My son, Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son.”

⁵Then Joab came to the king’s house and said, “Today you have humiliated the faces of all of your servants who have saved your life this day, and the life of your sons and your daughters, the life of your wives, and the life of your concubines, ⁶by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. Indeed, you have made clear this day that you have no regard for your commanders or officers, for I have realized today that were Absalom alive, and all of us were dead, then that would have been right in your eyes! ⁷So then, get up and go out and speak kindly to your servants,^b for I swear by Yahweh, if you do not go out, no man will lodge this night with you, and this disaster will be greater for you than any disaster that has come upon you from your childhood until now!” ⁸So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, “Look, the king is sitting in the gate.” Then all the army came before the king; whereas all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.

David Returns from Exile

⁹Then it happened that all the people were disputing among all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and he saved us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. ¹⁰Now Absalom whom we anointed as king over us has died in the battle; so then, why are you taking no action to restore the king?” ¹¹Then King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah: ‘Why are you last to bring back the king to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king in his house. ¹²My brothers, you are my bones and you are my flesh. Why should you be the last to bring back the king?’ ¹³To Amasa you shall say: ‘Are you not my bones and my flesh? May God punish me^c if you are not the commander of my army before me forever, in place of Joab.’ ” ¹⁴So he turned the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your servants.”

¹⁵Then the king returned and he came to the Jordan; Judah had come to Gilgal to come to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan. ¹⁶Then Shimei the son of Gera, the son of the Benjaminite, who was from Bahurim quickly came down with the men of Judah to meet King David, ¹⁷and a thousand men were with him from Benjamin. Too, Ziba the servant of the household of Saul and fifteen of his sons and twenty of his servants were with him, and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸The crossing took place^d to bring the household of the king over and to do good in his eyes. Then Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king when he crossed over the Jordan, ¹⁹and he said to the king, “May not my lord hold me guilty, and may you not remember how your servant did wrong on the day that my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, by taking it to heart! ²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned; look, I have come this day as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” ²¹Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded and said, “Because of this, should not Shimei be put to death, for he cursed the anointed one of Yahweh?” ²²Then David said, “What is it to me or to you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary today? Should anyone be put to death in Israel? Do I not know today that I am king over Israel?” ²³Then the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die,” and so the king swore to him.

²⁴Now, Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; he had not taken care of his feet nor trimmed his moustache nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day…