5. The king gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "For my sake, protect my boy Absalom." All the troops heard what the king ordered regarding Absalom to all the commanders.
6. So the troops marched into the field to meet the Israelites. The battle was fought in the Ephraim forest.
7. The army of Israel was defeated there by David’s soldiers. A great slaughter of twenty thousand men took place that day.
8. The battle spread out over the entire countryside, and the forest devoured more soldiers than the sword that day.
9. Absalom came upon some of David’s men. Absalom was riding on a mule, and the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree. Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair while the mule under him kept on going.
10. One of the men saw this and reported to Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree."
11. Joab said to the man who told him, "You saw this? Why didn’t you kill him on the spot? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt."