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b'2 Samuel 18:1-19:8 (ESV)
\\n18\\xa0Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2\\xa0And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab\\u2019s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, \\u201cI myself will also go out with you.\\u201d 3\\xa0But the men said, \\u201cYou shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.\\u201d 4\\xa0The king said to them, \\u201cWhatever seems best to you I will do.\\u201d So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5\\xa0And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, \\u201cDeal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.\\u201d And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
\\n6\\xa0So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7\\xa0And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8\\xa0The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.
\\n9\\xa0And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 10\\xa0And a certain man saw it and told Joab, \\u201cBehold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.\\u201d 11\\xa0Joab said to the man who told him, \\u201cWhat, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.\\u201d 12\\xa0But the man said to Joab, \\u201cEven if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king\\u2019s son, for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, \\u2018For my sake protect the young man Absalom.\\u2019 13\\xa0On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.\\u201d 14\\xa0Joab said, \\u201cI will not waste time like this with you.\\u201d And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 15\\xa0And ten young men, Joab\\u2019s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.
\\n16\\xa0Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. 17\\xa0And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every one to his own home. 18\\xa0Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King\\u2019s Valley, for he said, \\u201cI have no son to keep my name in remembrance.\\u201d He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom\\u2019s monument to this day.
\\n19\\xa0Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, \\u201cLet me run and carry news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.\\u201d 20\\xa0And Joab said to him, \\u201cYou are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king\\u2019s son is dead.\\u201d 21\\xa0Then Joab said to the Cushite, \\u201cGo, tell the king what you have seen.\\u201d The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. 22\\xa0Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, \\u201cCome what may, let me also run after the Cushite.\\u201d And Joab said, \\u201cWhy will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?\\u201d 23\\xa0\\u201cCome what may,\\u201d he said, \\u201cI will run.\\u201d So he said to him, \\u201cRun.\\u201d Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain,'