2 Samuel 18
1 David arranged his soldiers for the battle. He divided them into groups, and appointed a commander for each 100 soldiers and a commander for each 1,000 soldiers.
David organized the men who were with him and put commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds in charge of them.
2 He sent them out in three groups. Joab commanded one group, Joab’s brother Abishai commanded a second group, and Ittai from Gath commanded the third group. David said to them, “I myself will go with you [to the battle].”
David sent the army out divided into three sections. One third was commanded by Joab, one third was commanded by Abishai, son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third was commanded by Ittai the Gittite. The king told the men, “I myself will go out into battle with you.”
3 But his soldiers said, “No, we will not allow you to go with us. If they force us all to run away, they will not be concerned about that happening. Or if they kill half of us, that will also not be what they want. To them, [killing] you is more important than [killing] 10,000 of us. So it will be better that you [stay here] in the city and send help to us.”
But the men replied, “No, you must not go out into battle! For if we have to run away, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care about that either. But you are worth ten thousand of us, so it's better if you stay here and send us help from the town.”
4 The king replied, “Okay, I will do whatever seems best to you.” So he stood at the gate [and watched] while his soldiers marched out, group by group.
“I will do whatever you think best,” the king replied. The king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 [While they were leaving, ] the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “For my sake, do not harm my son Absalom!” And all the troops heard it when David gave that order about Absalom to those three commanders.
The king ordered Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Treat young Absalom gently for me.” All the men heard the king giving orders to each of his commanders about Absalom.
6 So the army went out to fight against the Israeli soldiers [who were with Absalom]. They fought the battle in the forest [where people from the tribe] of Ephraim [lived].
David's army marched out to face the Israelites in battle, which was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
7 David’s soldiers defeated Absalom’s soldiers. They killed 20,000 of them!
The Israelites were defeated by David's men and many were killed that day—some twenty thousand.
8 The battle was fought {They fought the battle} all over that area, and the number of men who died because of [dangerous things in] the forest [PRS] was greater than the number of men who were killed (in the battle/by swords).
The battle covered the whole countryside, and that day more died because of the forest than were killed by the sword.
9 During the battle, Absalom suddenly came near [some of] David’s soldiers. Absalom was riding on his mule; and when the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head/hair was caught in the branches. The mule kept going, but Absalom was left dangling in the air.
Absalom ran into some of David's men while he was riding on his mule. As the mule went under the twisted branches of a large oak tree, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. The mule he was riding kept going, leaving him hanging between earth and sky.
10 One of David’s soldiers saw what happened, and went and told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”
One of David's men saw what happened, so he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree!”
11 Joab said to the man, “What? You say that you saw him hanging there, so why did you not kill him immediately [RHQ]? [If you had killed him, ] I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt!”
“What! You saw him like that?” Joab said to the man. “Why didn't you kill him right then and there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a soldier's belt as a reward!”
12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if you gave me 1,000 pieces of silver, I would not have done anything to harm [IDM] the king’s son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, do not harm my son Absalom!’
But the man replied, “Even if you gave me a thousand shekels of silver, I wouldn't hurt the king's son. We all heard the king give the order to you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Look after young Absalom for me.’
13 If I had disobeyed the king and killed Absalom, the king would have heard about it, because the king hears about everything, and even you would not have defended me!”
If I had disobeyed and killed Absalom—and the king finds out everything—you yourself wouldn't have defended me.”
14 Joab said, “I am not going to waste time talking to you!” Then he took three spears [and went to where Absalom was], and thrust them into Absalom’s chest/heart while he was still alive, dangling from the oak tree.
“I'm not going to waste time waiting around like this with you!” Joab told him. He grabbed three spears and drove them into Absalom's heart while he was still alive, hanging from the oak tree.
15 Then ten young men who carried weapons for Joab surrounded Absalom and [finished] killing him.
Ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom and hacked him to death.
16 Then Joab blew his trumpet [to signal that they should not fight any more], and his soldiers returned from pursuing those Israeli soldiers.
Then Joab blew the ram's horn, and his men stopped chasing the Israelites because Joab had signaled them to stop.
17 They took Absalom’s body and threw it into a huge pit in the forest, and covered it with a huge pile of stones. Then all the remaining Israeli soldiers [who had been with Absalom] fled to their own towns.
They took Absalom and threw him into a deep pit in the forest, and piled a large heap of stones over him. All the Israelites ran away to their homes.
18 Absalom had no sons to preserve his [family] name. So, while Absalom was alive, he built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley [near Jerusalem, in order that people would remember him]. He put his name on the monument, and people still call it Absalom’s monument.
Absalom while he was alive had made a stone pillar and set it up in the King's Valley as a memorial to himself, for he thought to himself, “I don't have a son to keep the memory of my name alive.” He named the pillar after himself, and it's called Absalom's Monument even today.
19 [After Absalom had been killed, ] Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said to Joab, “Allow me to run to the king to tell him the good news that Yahweh has rescued him from the power of his enemies!”
Then Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, said, “Please let me run and take the good news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him over his enemies.”
20 But Joab said to him, “No, I will not allow you to take news to the king today. Some other day I will allow you to take some news, but not today. [If you took news today it would not be good news for the king, ] because his son is dead.”
“You're not the man to take the good news today,” Joab replied. “You can do it some other time, but don't do it today, because the king's son is dead.”
21 Then Joab said to David’s servant who was from Ethiopia, “You go and tell the king what you have seen.” So the man from Ethiopia bowed in front of Joab, and started to run.
So Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” He bowed to Joab and ran off.
22 Then Ahimaaz said again to Joab, “Even though [that man from Ethiopia is running], allow me to run behind him.” Joab replied, “My boy/son, why do you want to do that? You will not receive any reward for your news!”
Ahimaaz asked Joab again, “Never mind what happens, please let me run too, after the Ethiopian!” “Son, why do you want to run—you won't get anything for it?” Joab replied.
23 But Ahimaaz replied, “That does not matter, I want to go.” So Joab said, “Okay, go.” So Ahimaaz ran along [another] road through the Jordan Valley and arrived [where David was] before the man from Ethiopia arrived.
“Doesn't matter, I want to run anyway,” he said. “Fine, start running!” Joab told him. Ahimaaz took the route over flatter ground and overtook the Ethiopian.
24 David was sitting between the outer gate and the inner gate [of the city]. The watchman/lookout went up on top of the city wall and stood on the roof over the gates. He looked out and saw one man running alone.
David was sitting between the inside and outside gates. The watchman climbed up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. He looked out, and saw a man running by himself.
25 The watchman called down and reported it to the king. The king said, “If he is alone, [that indicates/means that] he is bringing [good] news.” The man who was running continued to come closer.
So he shouted down to tell the king. “If he's by himself then he's bringing good news,” the king replied. As the first runner got closer,
26 Then the watchman saw another man running. So he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look! There is another man running!” And the king said, “He also is bringing [some good] news.”
the watchman saw someone else running, and he shouted down to the gatekeeper, “Look! There's another man running by himself!” “He'll also be bringing good news,” said the king.
27 The watchman said, “I think the first man [must be Ahimaaz, because he] is running like Ahimaaz runs.” The king said, “He is a good man, and [I am sure] he is coming with good news.”
“The first man seems to me to be running like Ahimaaz, son of Zadok,” said the watchman. “He's a good man,” he king replied. “He'll bring good news.”
28 [When] Ahimaaz [reached the king, he] called out “I hope/desire that things will go well with you!” Then he prostrated himself on the ground in front of the king and said, “Your Majesty, praise Yahweh our God, who has rescued you from the men who were rebelling against you!”
Ahimaaz shouted out greetings to the king, Then he came and he bowed facedown before the king. “Blessed be the Lord your God!” he said. “He has defeated the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!”
29 The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe/all right?” Ahimaaz [did not want to answer that question, so he] replied, “When Joab sent me, I saw that there was a lot of confusion, but I do not know what it was about.”
“How is young Absalom? Is he alright?” the king asked. Ahimaaz answered, “It was very chaotic when your officer Joab sent me, your servant. I really don't know what was happening.”
30 Then the king said, “Stand aside.” So Ahimaaz stepped aside and stood there.
“Stand to one side and wait,” the king told him. So Ahimaaz stood to one side and waited.
31 Suddenly the man from Ethiopia arrived, and said, “Your Majesty, I have good news for you! Yahweh has enabled your soldiers to defeat all those who rebelled against you!”
Right then the Ethiopian arrived and said, “Your Majesty, listen to the good news! Today the Lord has defeated all those who rebelled against you!”
32 The king said to him, “Is the young man Absalom safe/all right?” And the man from Ethiopia replied, “Sir, I wish/desire that what happened to him would happen to all of your enemies and to all those who rebel against you!”
“How is young Absalom? Is he alright?” the king asked. The Ethiopian replied, “May what has happened to the young man happen to Your Majesty's enemies, and to everyone who rebels against you!”
33 The king [realized that he meant that Absalom was dead, so he] became (extremely distressed/overcome with grief), and he went up to the room above the gateway and cried. While he was going up, he kept crying out, “O, my son Absalom! My son! O, my son Absalom, I desire/wish that I had died instead of you!”
The king broke down. He went up to the room over the gate and cried. As he walked, he sobbed out, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I'd died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!”
