Dawud numbered the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. 2Dawud sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai Ibn Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the people, I also will surely go out with you myself. 3But the people said, You shall not go out: for if we flee, they will not care about us; not even if half of us die, will they care about us: but you are worth ten thousand of us. For you would be more help to us in the city. 4The king said to them, I will do whatever seems best to you. So the king stood by the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. 5The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. All the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom. 6So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. 7The people of Israel were defeated there before the servants of Dawud, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. 8For the battle was spread over the surface of the whole countryside; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. 9Absalom happened to meet the servants of Dawud. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head got caught in the oak, and he was hanging between the sky and earth; and the mule that was under him went on. 10A certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree. 11Joab said to the man who told him, You saw him, so why didn’t you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver, and a sash. 12The man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver, I still wouldn’t put forth my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king ordered you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Beware that no one touches the young man Absalom. 13Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hid from the king), then you yourself would have set yourself against me. 14Then Joab said, I won’t wait like this with you. He took three spears in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the oak tree. 15Ten young men who bore Joab’s armour surrounded and struck Absalom, and killed him. 16Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel; for Joab halted the people. 17They took Absalom, and threw him into a big pit in the forest, and piled a large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent. 18Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called Absalom’s monument, to this day. 19Then Ahimaaz Ibn Zadok said, Let me run now, and take the news to the king that Allah has avenged him of his enemies. 20Joab said to him, You shall not be the bearer of news this day, but you can do it another day; but this day you shall take no news, because the king’s son is dead. 21Then Joab said to a Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran. 22Then Ahimaaz Ibn Zadok said yet again to Joab, Come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite. Joab said, Why will you run, my son, seeing there will be no reward for your news? 23The Cushite replied, But come what may, I will run. So Joab said to him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite. 24Now Dawud was sitting between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate to the wall, and lifted his eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man running alone. 25The watchman cried, and told the king. The king said, If he is alone, there is news in his mouth. He came rapidly, and drew near. 26Then the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the porter, and said, Behold, another man running alone. The king said, He also brings news. 27The watchman said, I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz Ibn Zadok. The king said, He is a good man, and comes with good news. 28Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, All is well. He bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Praise be to Allah your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king. 29The king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant, and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was. 30The king said, Stand aside, and wait here. He stepped aside, and stood there. 31Behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, Good news for my lord the king! Allah has avenged you this day of all those who rose up against you. 32The king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? The Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is. 33The king was deeply moved, and went up to the room over the gate, and wept: and as he went, he said, My son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!