2 Samuel 17:15–18:18
15 Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “⌊Thus and so⌋n Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, but ⌊thus and so⌋o I have advised. 16 So then, send quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the fords of the wilderness! Moreover, by all means cross over lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ” 17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they were not able to be seen coming to the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim. Now he had a well in his courtyard, so they went down there. 19 Then the woman took and spread a covering over the opening of the well; then she spread out dried grain on it, so nothing was discovered. 20 When the servants of Absalom came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And she said to them, “They crossed over the brook of water.” So they searched but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they left, they came up from the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Set out and cross over the water quickly, for thus Ahithophel has advised against you.” 22 So David and all the people who were with him set out, and they crossed over the Jordan until morning light until ⌊there was no one⌋p missing who had not crossed over the Jordan. 23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled the donkey, and he set out and went up to his house in his city. ⌊After he set his house in order⌋,q he hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.r
24 Now David had come to Mahanaim, and Absalom had crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25 Absalom had appointed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, ⌊who had married⌋s Abigail the daughter of Nahash the sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab. 26 Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. 27 Just as David had arrived in Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the ⌊Ammonites⌋t and Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought beds and basins and objects of pottery, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, 29 honey, curds, sheep, cheese, and cattle for David and for the people who were with him to eat. For they had thought, “The troops are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”
18 Then David mustered the people who were with him, and he appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David 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.” 3 Then 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.” 4 The 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. 5 The 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.
6 The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7 The army of Israel was defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand. 8 The 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. 9 Absalom 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. 10 When a certain man saw it, he told Joab, and he said, “Look, I saw Absalom hanging in the oak tree!” 11 Then 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 you⌋i ten pieces of silver and a leather belt.” 12 The 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.’ 13 If 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. 15 Then ten of the young men who bore the weapons of Joab surrounded him and struck and killed Absalom. 16 Then Joab blew on the trumpet and the troops returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab kept back the troops. 17 They 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).