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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>2 Samuel 18 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_samuel/18.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_samuel/18-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > 2 Samuel 18</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_samuel/17.htm" title="2 Samuel 17">◄</a> 2 Samuel 18 <a href="../2_samuel/19.htm" title="2 Samuel 19">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Absalom Is Defeated and Killed</h3><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_1"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.1" class="v10_18_1">1</span>King David brought all his men together, divided them into units of a thousand and of a hundred, and placed officers in command of them. </span><span class="v10_18_2"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.2" class="v10_18_2">2</span>Then he sent them out in three groups, with Joab and Joab's brother Abishai and Ittai from Gath, each in command of a group. And the king said to his men, “I will go with you myself.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_3"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.3" class="v10_18_3">3</span>“You mustn't go with us,” they answered. “It won't make any difference to the enemy if the rest of us turn and run, or even if half of us are killed; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It will be better if you stay here in the city and send us help.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_4"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.4" class="v10_18_4">4</span>“I will do whatever you think best,” the king answered. Then he stood by the side of the gate as his men marched out in units of a thousand and of a hundred. </span><span class="v10_18_5"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.5" class="v10_18_5">5</span>He gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.” And all the troops heard David give this command to his officers.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_6"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.6" class="v10_18_6">6</span>David's army went out into the countryside and fought the Israelites in Ephraim Forest. </span><span class="v10_18_7"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.7" class="v10_18_7">7</span>The Israelites were defeated by David's men; it was a terrible defeat, with twenty thousand men killed that day. </span><span class="v10_18_8"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.8" class="v10_18_8">8</span>The fighting spread over the countryside, and more men died in the forest than were killed in battle.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_9"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.9" class="v10_18_9">9</span>Suddenly Absalom met some of David's men. Absalom was riding a mule, and as it went under a large oak tree, Absalom's head got caught in the branches. The mule ran on and Absalom was left hanging in midair. </span><span class="v10_18_10"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.10" class="v10_18_10">10</span>One of David's men saw him and reported to Joab, “Sir, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_11"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.11" class="v10_18_11">11</span>Joab answered, “If you saw him, why didn't you kill him on the spot? I myself would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_12"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.12" class="v10_18_12">12</span>But the man answered, “Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't lift a finger against the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.’ </span><span class="v10_18_13"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.13" class="v10_18_13">13</span>But if I had disobeyed the king and killed Absalom, the king would have heard about it—he hears about everything—and you would not have defended me.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_14"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.14" class="v10_18_14">14</span>“I'm not going to waste any more time with you,” Joab said. He took three spears and plunged them into Absalom's chest while he was still alive, hanging in the oak tree. </span><span class="v10_18_15"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.15" class="v10_18_15">15</span>Then ten of Joab's soldiers closed in on Absalom and finished killing him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_16"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.16" class="v10_18_16">16</span>Joab had the trumpet blown to stop the fighting, and his troops came back from pursuing the Israelites. </span><span class="v10_18_17"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.17" class="v10_18_17">17</span>They took Absalom's body, threw it into a deep pit in the forest, and covered it with a huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to their own hometowns.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_18"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.18" class="v10_18_18">18</span>During his lifetime Absalom had built a monument for himself in King's Valley, because he had no son to keep his name alive. So he named it after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom's Monument.</span></p><h3 class="s">David Is Told of Absalom's Death</h3><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_19"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.19" class="v10_18_19">19</span>Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab, “Let me run to the king with the good news that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has saved him from his enemies.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_20"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.20" class="v10_18_20">20</span>“No,” Joab said, “today you will not take any good news. Some other day you may do so, but not today, for the king's son is dead.” </span><span class="v10_18_21"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.21" class="v10_18_21">21</span>Then he said to his Ethiopian<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.18.21!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> slave, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” The slave bowed and ran off.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_22"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.22" class="v10_18_22">22</span>Ahimaaz insisted, “I don't care what happens; please let me take the news also.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_22">“Why do you want to do it, my son?” Joab asked. “You will get no reward for it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_23"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.23" class="v10_18_23">23</span>“Whatever happens,” Ahimaaz said again, “I want to go.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_23">“Then go,” Joab said. So Ahimaaz ran off down the road through the Jordan Valley, and soon he passed the slave.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_24"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.24" class="v10_18_24">24</span>David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates of the city. The lookout went up to the top of the wall and stood on the roof of the gateway; he looked out and saw a man running alone. </span><span class="v10_18_25"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.25" class="v10_18_25">25</span>He called down and told the king, and the king said, “If he is alone, he is bringing good news.” The runner kept coming closer.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_26"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.26" class="v10_18_26">26</span>Then the lookout saw another man running alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look! There's another man running!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_26">The king answered, “This one also is bringing good news.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_27"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.27" class="v10_18_27">27</span>The lookout said, “I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_27">“He's a good man,” the king said, “and he is bringing good news.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_28"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.28" class="v10_18_28">28</span>Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king, threw himself down to the ground before him, and said, “Praise the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God, who has given you victory over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_29"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.29" class="v10_18_29">29</span>“Is the young man Absalom all right?” the king asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_29">Ahimaaz answered, “Sir, when your officer Joab sent me, I saw a great commotion, but I couldn't tell what it was.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_30"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.30" class="v10_18_30">30</span>“Stand over there,” the king told him; and he went over and stood there.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_31"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.31" class="v10_18_31">31</span>Then the Ethiopian<a href="#fn" id="link_2Sam.18.31!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> slave arrived and said to the king, “I have good news for Your Majesty! Today the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has given you victory over all who rebelled against you!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_32"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.32" class="v10_18_32">32</span>“Is the young man Absalom all right?” the king asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_32">The slave answered, “I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v10_18_33"><span class="reftext" id="2Sam.18.33" class="v10_18_33">33</span>The king was overcome with grief. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he cried, “O my son! My son Absalom! Absalom, my son! If only I had died in your place, my son! Absalom, my son!”</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">18.21: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Cushite: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">18.31: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Cushite: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p class="yiv9003199930MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">Bible text from the Good News Translation (GNT) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.gnt.bible">www.gnt.bible</a> . 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