As soon as Ab-sa-lom had all the men he thought he would need, he set out to fight with Da-vid. And Da-vid drew up his men in line, and put Jo-ab at their head. And the king said, I will go out with you. But the men said he should not; so Da-vid staid by the gate and saw them go out to the fight, and bade them be kind to Ab-sa-lom for his sake.
THE DEATH OF AB-SA-LOM.
The fight took place in a wood. Ab-sa-lom rode on a mule, and as the mule passed 'neath a great oak, Ab-sa-lom's head caught in a branch, and he hung in mid air, while the mule went off down the road.
And a man saw it and told Jo-ab. And Jo-ab said, Why did'st thou not kill him? And the man said he would not kill the king's son, for he had heard Da-vid ask them to be kind to him.
But Jo-ab said, I can-not waste time with thee. And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through Ab-sa-lom, so that he died. And he was thrown in-to a pit that was in the wood, and a great heap of stones was piled on him. And all the men who had been with him went back to their tents.
DA-VID HEAR-ING OF AB-SA-LOM'S DEATH.
Da-vid sat in the gate, and when men came back with news of the fight, he would ask of each one, Is Ab-sa-lom safe? And at last one of them said, May all the king's foes be as this young man is. Then Da-vid knew that Ab-sa-lom was dead, and he went to his own room and wept.
And he cried out with a loud voice, O, my son, Ab-sa-lom; my son, my son Ab-sa-lom! I would that God had let me die in thy stead, O, Ab-sa-lom, my son, my son!