1. David mustered the people who were with him, and he set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
2. Then David dispatched the people, one-third under the command of Joab, one-third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, and one-third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. Then David said to the people, “I myself will go out with you.”
3. But the people said, “You should not go, for if we retreat, they will not be concerned about us. Even if half of us die, they will not be concerned about us. But now you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore, it would be better to assist us from the city.”
4. The king said to them, “I will do what seems best to you.”So the king stood beside the gate while all of the people went out by hundreds and thousands.
5. The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Deal gently with the young man Absalom.” All of the people heard the king instruct the commanders concerning Absalom.
6. So the people went out toward Israel in the field, but the fighting occurred in the forest of Ephraim.
7. The people of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David. That day the defeat was extensive, twenty thousand men.
8. The fighting spread across the land, and the people consumed by the forest were more numerous than those consumed by the sword that day.
9. Absalom was encountered by some of the servants of David. Now Absalom was riding on his mule. When the mule went under the branches of a very large tree, his head was caught in the tree. He was left in midair while the mule that was under him kept going.
10. One man saw him and reported it to Joab, saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.”
11. Joab said to the man who was reporting to him, “What? You saw him? Why did you not strike him on the spot, sending him to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.”
12. The man said to Joab, “Not even if I had felt the weight of a thousand shekels of silver in my hand would I have laid a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you, Abishai, and Ittai saying: Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!