The Battle Begins

18 David mustered his forces and appointed officers in charge of regiments and companies.^{[a] 2} Dividing his forces into three groups, he set Joab as commander of one third of his army, Zeruiah’s son Abishai, Joab’s brother, as commander of another third, and Ittai from Gath as commander of another third. The king informed the army, “I’m going out to battle^[b] with you, too.”

³ “No way!” his army responded. “If we have to retreat from the battle, Absalom’s men won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care about us. But you are worth 10,000 of us. The best thing you can do for us is to remain in the city.”

⁴ So David responded, “I’ll do what you think best.” Then he stood alongside the city gate as the army went out in battle array by hundreds and thousands. ⁵ As they were going out, the king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat young Absalom gently for my sake.” Everyone heard what the king had ordered his commanders about Absalom.

⁶ David’s army left for the battlefield to fight Absalom and his Israeli followers, and they also fought in the Ephraim forest, ⁷ where David’s army of servants defeated the Israelis. Many died that day—20,000 men. ⁸ The battle spread throughout the entire countryside, and the forest claimed more casualties that day than did the sword fighting.