5. And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Preserve for me the boy Absalom." And all the people heard the king commanding all the leaders on behalf of Absalom.
6. And so, the people departed into the field against Israel. And the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
7. And the people of Israel were cut down in that place by the army of David. And a great slaughter occurred on that day: twenty thousand men.
8. Now the battle in that place was dispersed over the face of all the land. And there were many more of the people whom the forest had consumed, than the sword had devoured, on that day.
9. Then it happened that Absalom, riding on a mule, met the servants of David. And when the mule had entered under a thick and large oak tree, his head became trapped in the oak. And while he was suspended between heaven and earth, the mule on which he had been sitting continued on.
10. Then a certain one saw this and reported it to Joab, saying, "I saw Absalom hanging from an oak."
11. And Joab said to the man who had reported it to him, "If you saw him, why did you not stab him to the ground, and I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt?"
12. And he said to Joab: "Even if you weighed out to my hands one thousand silver coins, I would never lay my hands on the son of the king. For in our hearing the king ordered you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Keep for me the boy Absalom.'
13. Then too, if I had acted with such audacity, against my own life, this would never have been able to be hidden from the king. And would you then have stood by my side?"
14. And Joab said, "It will not be as you wish. Instead, I will be assailing him in your sight." Then he took three lances in his hand, and he fixed them in the heart of Absalom. And while he was still clinging to life upon the oak,
15. ten young men, armor bearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him, they killed him.