2Samuel:18:1-18
vw@2Samuel:18:1 @ And David mustered the people who were with him, and appointed commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds over them.
vw@2Samuel:18:2 @ And David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joabs brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I shall proceed to go out with you myself also.
vw@2Samuel:18:3 @ But the people answered, You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us; for you are like ten thousand of us now. You are now more help to us in the city.
vw@2Samuel:18:4 @ And the king said to them, I will do what is good in your eyes. So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.
vw@2Samuel:18:5 @ And the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king charged the commanders concerning Absalom.
vw@2Samuel:18:6 @ So the people went out into the field to meet Israel. And the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
vw@2Samuel:18:7 @ The people of Israel were smitten there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand.
vw@2Samuel:18:8 @ And the battle was scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword had devoured.
vw@2Samuel:18:9 @ And Absalom was encountered before the servants of David. Absalom was riding on a mule, the mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between the heavens and earth; and the mule which was under him went on.
vw@2Samuel:18:10 @ And a certain man saw it and reported to Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!
vw@2Samuel:18:11 @ And Joab said to the man who reported to him, Behold, you have seen; and why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.
vw@2Samuel:18:12 @ And the man said to Joab, Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not put forth my hand against the kings son. For in our ears the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take heed that no one touches the young man Absalom!
vw@2Samuel:18:13 @ Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own soul. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.
vw@2Samuel:18:14 @ And Joab said, I cannot wait before you. And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absaloms heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree.
vw@2Samuel:18:15 @ And ten young men who bore Joabs armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.
vw@2Samuel:18:16 @ And Joab blew the shofar, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab had held back the people.
vw@2Samuel:18:17 @ And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the forest, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. And all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.
vw@2Samuel:18:18 @ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the Kings Valley; for he thought, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absaloms Monument.
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