Absalom Dies in Battle

18 Then David mustered the people who were with him, and he appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² David sent forth a third of the troops under the command of Joab,^[a] and a third under the command of Abishai,^[b] the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the remaining third under the command of Ittai^[c] the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I, even I, will certainly go out^[d] with you.” ³ Then the troops said, “You will not go out, for if we must flee,^[e] then they will not care about us;^[f] even if half of us die, they will not care about us,^[g] but now, you are like ten thousand of us. And so then, it is better for us that you be in the city to help.” ⁴ The king said to them, “I will do what seems good in your eyes.” So the king stood at the side of the gate while all of the troops went out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵ The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “With respect to the young man Absalom, deal gently for me.” And all the troops heard when the king ordered all of the commanders concerning the matter of Absalom.

⁶ The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷ The army of Israel was defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand. ⁸ The battle there was spreading over the surface of all the land, and the forest devoured more among the army than^[h] the sword did on that day.