4. The king said to them, “I will do what seems best to you.”The king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.
5. The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.” All the people heard when the king commanded all the captains concerning Absalom.
6. So the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
7. The people of Israel were struck there before David’s servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men.