2 Samuel 18:7

3 But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will pay no attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better for now if you support us from the city.”

4 “I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

5 Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.

6 So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel in the battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim.

7 There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men.

8 The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.

9 Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair.

10 When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

11 “You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt!”

Read all of 2 Samuel 18