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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://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 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></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="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</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"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/2_samuel/18.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Two Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts care; for now there are ten thousand like us">a</a></sup></span> It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”</p><p class="reg">So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams">b</a></sup></span> of silver and a warrior’s belt.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms">c</a></sup></span> were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake. <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts may be translated Absalom, whoever you may be.">d</a></sup></span> ’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And if I had put my life in jeopardy <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously toward him">e</a></sup></span> —and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.</p> <p class="sectionhead">David Mourns</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the <span class="name">Lord</span> has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.”</p><p class="reg">But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>He said, “Come what may, I want to run.”</p><p class="reg">So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="That is, the plain of the Jordan">f</a></sup></span> and outran the Cushite.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>The watchman called out to the king and reported it.</p><p class="reg">The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!”</p><p class="reg">The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”</p><p class="reg">“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the <span class="name">Lord</span> your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”</p><p class="reg">Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The <span class="name">Lord</span> has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”</p><p class="reg">The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!” <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="In Hebrew texts this verse (18:33) is numbered 19:1.">g</a></sup></span> </p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">3</span> <span class="footnotebot">Two Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts <i>care; for now there are ten thousand like us</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">12</span> <span class="footnotebot">That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">12</span> <span class="footnotebot">A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts may be translated <i>Absalom, whoever you may be.</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">13</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously toward him</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">f</span> <span class="fnverse">23</span> <span class="footnotebot">That is, the plain of the Jordan</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">g</span> <span class="fnverse">33</span> <span class="footnotebot">In Hebrew texts this verse (18:33) is numbered 19:1.</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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