2 Samuel 18

Thomson^{(i) 1} And when David had reviewed the people who were with him, and set over them captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, ² he sent forth the people, one third under the command of Joab; and one third under the command of Abessa, the son of Saruia, and brother of Joab, and one third under the command of Ethi the Gethite. And David said to the people, I myself will go out with you. ³ But they said, Thou must not go out. For if we should flee they will pay no regard to us; for if one half of us should die, they will not care for us: for thou art worth ten thousand of us. Now therefore it is best that thou shouldst be in the city to succour and help us. ⁴ And the king said, Whatever seemeth best in your eyes I will do. So the king stood by the side of the gate, and when all the people were marching out by hundreds, and by thousands, ⁵ the king gave a charge to Joab, and to Abessa, and to Ethi saying, Spare, for my sake, the young man Abessalom. And all the people heard the king giving this charge to all the commanders respecting Abessalom. ⁶ And all the people went out to the forest, in front of Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim, ⁷ and Israel there gave way before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter that day, to the amount of twenty thousand men. ⁸ For the battle was there scattered over the whole face of the ground, and the forest devoured more of the people than the sword destroyed that day. ⁹ And as Abessalom was advancing to meet the servants of David, being mounted on his mule, his mule entered the thickest copse of that great oak forest, and his head got entangled among the oaks so that he was suspended between heaven and earth, and the mule went from under him. ¹⁰ And a man saw him, and told Joab, and said, Behold I saw Abessalom hanging among the oaks. ¹¹ Whereupon Joab said to the man who told him, And behold thou sawest! Why didst thou not smite him there to the ground; and I would have given thee ten pieces of silver, and a girdle? ¹² And the man said, As I live, though I might have a thousand shekels of silver weighed into my hands, I would not lay my hands on the king's son. For in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abessa, and Ethi, saying, Spare, for my sake, the young man Abessalom; touch not his life. ¹³ Now nothing can be hid from the king. Even thou thyself wouldst stand aloof. ¹⁴ And Joab said, I myself will in this case, set the example. I will not boggle so in thy sight. Then Joab took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through Abessalom's heart, while he was still alive in the heart of the forest. ¹⁵ And when the ten young men, who carried Joab's arms, had surrounded and smitten Abessalom, and put him to death, ¹⁶ Joab sounded the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel; fur Joab had mercy on the people. ¹⁷ And he took Abessalom, and threw him into a great chasm in the forest, into the great pit, and piled ever him a great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every man to his tent. ¹⁸ Now Abessalom had, in his life time, undertaken and erected for himself a monument in which he was to have been buried. So he erected this monument to supply the place of that in the king's dale, because, said he, he hath no son to keep up the remembrance of his name. And he called that monument, The hand of Abessalom, which name it retaineth to this day. ¹⁹ Then Achimaas son of Sadok said, Let me, I pray thee, run and tell the king good news, That the Lord hath delivered him out of the hand of his enemies. ²⁰ But Joab said to him, Thou wilt not be the messenger of good news today. At another time thou shalt carry good news. But this day thou canst not be the messenger of good news, because the king's son is dead. ²¹ Then Joab said to Chousi, Run and tell the king what thou hast seen. Whereupon Chousi bowed to Joab and set out. ²² And Achimaas, son of Sadok, applied again, and said to Joab, Grant me leave that I also may run after Chousi. And Joab said, Why art thou so earnest to run, my son? Come, there is no good news worth thy going. ²³ And he said, But what if I can run? Then Joab said to him, Run. So Achimaas ran by the way leading to Kechar, and passed Chousi. ²⁴ Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the top of the gate, to the wall, and raising his eyes he looked and behold there was a man in his view running alone. ²⁵ So the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is good news in his mouth. While he was advancing, and coming near, ²⁶ the watchman saw another man running, whereupon the watchman cried to the gate, and said, Behold there is another man running alone. And the king said, He also is a messenger of good news. ²⁷ And the watchman said, I see the running of the foremost is like the running of Achimaas son of Sadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and must therefore come with good news. ²⁸ Then Achimaas cried aloud, and said to the king, All is well. And when he had made obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground, he said, Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king. ²⁹ Then the king said, Is the young man Abessalom safe? And Achimaas said, I saw a great crowd when Joab the king's servant despatched thy servant, but I did not know what was there. ³⁰ Then the king said, Turn aside, and stand here. And when he turned aside, and took his station, ³¹ behold Chousi came, and said to the king, Good news to my lord the king; for the Lord hath this day delivered thee out of the hand of all who rose up against thee. ³² And the king said to Chousi, Is the young man Abessalom safe? And Chousi said, May all the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen against him for evil, be as that young man. ³³ At this the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber, over the gate, and wept. And as he was going up he thus expressed himself, Oh, my son, Abessalom! Oh! my son! my son Abessalom! that they had slain me instead of thee; that I had died in thy stead! Oh Abessalom! my son! my son!