Bible verse
The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.
2 Samuel 18:8 · BSB
The verses around it, from 2 Samuel 18.
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!”
12 The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’
KJV
For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
ASV
For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
ERV
For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country: and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.