II Samuel 18
18
Absalom’s Defeat and Death
1And David numbered the people who were with him, and #2 Sam. 16:2, 14set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. 2Then David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, #Ex. 18:25; Num. 31:14; 1 Sam. 22:7one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of #Judg. 7:16; 1 Sam. 11:11Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I also will surely go out with you myself.”
3#2 Sam. 15:19–22But 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. But you are worth ten thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city.”
4Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. 5Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” #2 Sam. 21:17And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom.
6So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the #2 Sam. 18:12woods of Ephraim. 7The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day. 8For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
9Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and #Josh. 17:15, 18; 2 Sam. 17:26his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on. 10Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!”
11So Joab said to the man who told him, “You just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.”
12But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. #2 Sam. 14:26For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’ 13Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.”
14Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree. 15And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.
16So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people. 17And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and #2 Sam. 18:5laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel #Deut. 21:20, 21; Josh. 7:26; 8:29fled, everyone to his tent.
18Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in #2 Sam. 19:8; 20:1, 22the King’s Valley. For he said, #Gen. 14:17“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 Absalom’s Monument.
David Hears of Absalom’s Death
19Then #2 Sam. 14:27Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies.”
20And Joab said to him, “You shall not take the news this day, for you shall take the news another day. But today you shall take no news, because the king’s son is dead.” 21Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.
22And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.”
So Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?”
23“But whatever happens,” he said, “let me run.”
So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.
24Now David was sitting between the #2 Sam. 15:36; 17:17two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a man, running alone. 25Then the watchman cried out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he came rapidly and drew near.
26Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “There is another man, running alone!”
And the king said, “He also brings news.”
27So the watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.”
And the king said, “He is a good man, and comes with #Judg. 5:11; 2 Sam. 13:34; 2 Kin. 9:17good news.”
28So Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “All is well!” Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king, and said, #1 Kin. 1:42“Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king!”
29The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.”
30And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.
31Just then the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “There is good news, my lord the king! For the Lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.”
32And the king said to the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
So the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!”
David’s Mourning for Absalom
33Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: #2 Sam. 16:12“O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, #2 Sam. 12:10my son!”
Currently Selected:
II Samuel 18: NKJV
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
2 Samuel 18
18
Absalom is Defeated and Killed
1King David brought all his men together, divided them into units of a thousand and of a hundred, and placed officers in command of them. 2Then he sent them out in three groups, with Joab and Joab's brother Abishai and Ittai from Gath, each in command of a group. And the king said to his men, “I will go with you myself.”
3“You mustn't go with us,” they answered. “It won't make any difference to the enemy if the rest of us turn and run, or even if half of us are killed; but you are worth 10,000 of us. It will be better if you stay here in the city and send us help.”
4“I will do whatever you think best,” the king answered. Then he stood by the side of the gate as his men marched out in units of a thousand and of a hundred. 5He gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.” And all the troops heard David give this command to his officers.
6David's army went out into the countryside and fought the Israelites in the forest of Ephraim. 7The Israelites were defeated by David's men; it was a terrible defeat, with 20,000 men killed that day. 8The fighting spread over the countryside, and more men died in the forest than were killed in battle.
9Suddenly Absalom met some of David's men. Absalom was riding a mule, and as it went under a large oak tree, Absalom's head got caught in the branches. The mule ran on and Absalom was left hanging in mid air. 10One of David's men saw him and reported to Joab, “Sir, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”
11Joab answered, “If you saw him, why didn't you kill him on the spot? I myself would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”
12But the man answered, “Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't lift a finger against the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.’ 13But if I had disobeyed the king and killed Absalom, the king would have heard about it — he hears about everything — and you would not have defended me.”
14“I'm not going to waste any more time with you,” Joab said. He took three spears and plunged them into Absalom's chest while he was still alive, hanging in the oak tree. 15Then ten of Joab's soldiers closed in on Absalom and finished killing him.
16Joab ordered the trumpet to be blown to stop the fighting, and his troops came back from pursuing the Israelites. 17They took Absalom's body, threw it into a deep pit in the forest, and covered it with a huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to their own homes.
18During his lifetime Absalom had built a monument for himself in King's Valley, because he had no son to keep his name alive. So he named it after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom's Monument.
David is Told of Absalom's Death
19Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab, “Let me run to the king with the good news that the LORD has saved him from his enemies.”
20“No,” Joab said, “today you will not take any good news. Some other day you may do so, but not today, for the king's son is dead.” 21Then he said to his Ethiopian#18.21 Ethiopian: See Word List. slave, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” The slave bowed and ran off.
22Ahimaaz insisted, “I don't care what happens; please let me take the news also.”
“Why do you want to do it, my son?” Joab asked. “You will get no reward for it.”
23“Whatever happens,” Ahimaaz said again, “I want to go.”
“Then go,” Joab said. So Ahimaaz ran off down the road through the Jordan Valley, and soon he passed the slave.
24David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates of the city. The watchman went up to the top of the wall and stood on the roof of the gateway; he looked out and saw a man running alone. 25He called down and told the king, and the king said, “If he is alone, he is bringing good news.” The runner came nearer and nearer.
26Then the watchman saw another man running alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look! There's another man running!”
The king answered, “This one also is bringing good news.”
27The watchman said, “I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz.”
“He's a good man,” the king said, “and he is bringing good news.”
28Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king, threw himself down to the ground before him, and said, “Praise the LORD your God, who has given you victory over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!”
29“Is the young man Absalom safe?” the king asked.
Ahimaaz answered, “Sir, when your officer Joab sent me, I saw a great commotion, but I couldn't tell what it was.”
30“Stand over there,” the king said; and he went over and stood there.
31Then the Ethiopian#18.31 Ethiopian: See Word List. slave arrived and said to the king, “I have good news for Your Majesty! Today the LORD has given you victory over all who rebelled against you!”
32“Is the young man Absalom safe?” the king asked.
The slave answered, “I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you.”
33The king was overcome with grief. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he cried, “O my son! My son Absalom! Absalom, my son! If only I had died in your place, my son! Absalom, my son!”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.