NSB(i)
9 Absalom happened to come face to face with some of David’s men. He was riding on a mule. The mule went under the tangled branches of a large tree. Absalom’s head became caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair when the mule under him ran away.
10 A man who saw this told Joab: »I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.«
11 »What! You saw what?« Joab said. »Why did you not strike him to the ground? Then I would have felt obligated to give you four ounces of silver and a belt.«
12 The man told Joab: »Even if I felt the weight of twenty pounds of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. We heard the order the king gave you, Abishai, and Ittai. Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.
13 »Would you have stood by me if I did something treacherous to him? There is nothing hidden from the king. You would turn against me.«
14 »I will not waste any more time with you,« Joab said. He took three spears and plunged them into Absalom’s chest while he was still alive and hanging in the oak tree.
15 Ten of Joab’s soldiers closed in on Absalom and finished killing him.
16 Joab ordered the trumpet blown to stop the fighting. His troops came back from pursuing the Israelites.
17 They took Absalom’s body and threw it into a deep pit in the forest. Then they covered it with a huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to their own hometowns.
18 During his lifetime Absalom built a monument for himself in King’s Valley. He had no son to keep his name alive. So he named it after himself. To this day it is known as Absalom’s Monument.