Parallel Bible results for "2 samuel 18"

2 Samuel 18

Young's Literal Translation YLT

1 And David inspecteth the people who [are] with him, and setteth over them heads of thousands and heads of hundreds,

2 and David sendeth the third of the people by the hand of Joab, and the third by the hand of Abishai, son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, and the third by the hand of Ittai the Gittite, and the king saith unto the people, `I certainly go out -- I also -- with you.'

3 And the people say, `Thou dost not go out, for if we utterly flee, they do not set [their] heart upon us; and if half of us die, they do not set [their] heart unto us -- for now like us [are] ten thousand; and now, better that thou be to us from the city for an helper.'

4 And the king saith unto them, `That which is good in your eyes I do;' and the king standeth at the side of the gate, and all the people have gone out by hundreds and by thousands,

5 and the king chargeth Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, `Gently -- for me, for the youth, for Absalom;' and all the people heard in the king's charging all the heads concerning Absalom.

6 And the people goeth out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle is in a forest of Ephraim;

7 and smitten there are the people of Israel before the servants of David, and the smiting there is great on that day -- twenty thousand;

8 and the battle is there scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest multiplieth to devour among the people more than those whom the sword hath devoured in that day.

9 And Absalom meeteth before the servants of David, and Absalom is riding on the mule, and the mule cometh in under an entangled bough of the great oak, and his head taketh hold on the oak, and he is placed between the heavens and the earth, and the mule that [is] under him hath passed on.

10 And one man seeth, and declareth to Joab, and saith, `Lo, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.'

11 And Joab saith to the man who is declaring [it] to him, `And lo, thou hast seen -- and wherefore didst thou not smite him there to the earth -- and on me to give to thee ten silverlings and one girdle?'

12 And the man saith unto Joab, `Yea, though I am weighing on my hand a thousand silverlings, I do not put forth my hand unto the son of the king; for in our ears hath the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Observe ye who [is] against the youth -- against Absalom;

13 or I had done against my soul a vain thing, and no matter is hid from the king, and thou -- thou dost station thyself over-against.'

14 And Joab saith, `Not right -- I tarry before thee;' and he taketh three darts in his hand, and striketh them into the heart of Absalom, while he [is] alive, in the midst of the oak.

15 And they go round -- ten youths bearing weapons of Joab -- and smite Absalom, and put him to death.

16 And Joab bloweth with a trumpet, and the people turneth back from pursuing after Israel, for Joab hath kept back the people;

17 and they take Absalom and cast him in the forest unto the great pit, and set up over him a very great heap of stones, and all Israel have fled -- each to his tent.

18 And Absalom hath taken, and setteth up for himself in his life, the standing-pillar that [is] in the king's valley, for he said, `I have no son to cause my name to be remembered;' and he calleth the standing-pillar by his own name, and it is called `The monument of Absalom' unto this day.

19 And Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, `Let me run, I pray thee, and I bear the king tidings, for Jehovah hath delivered him out of the hand of his enemies;'

20 and Joab saith to him, `Thou art not a man of tidings this day, but thou hast borne tidings on another day, and this day thou dost not bear tidings, because the king's son [is] dead.'

21 And Joab saith to Cushi, `Go, declare to the king that which thou hast seen;' and Cushi boweth himself to Joab, and runneth.

22 And Ahimaaz son of Zadok addeth again, and saith unto Joab, `And whatever it be, let me run, I pray thee, I also, after the Cushite.' And Joab saith, `Why [is] this -- thou art running, my son, and for thee there are no tidings found?' --

23 `And, whatever it be, [said he,] let me run.' And he saith to him, `Run;' and Ahimaaz runneth the way of the circuit, and passeth by the Cushite.

24 And David is sitting between the two gates, and the watchman goeth unto the roof of the gate, unto the wall, and lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, a man running by himself.

25 And the watchman calleth, and declareth to the king, and the king saith, `If by himself, tidings [are] in his mouth;' and he cometh, coming on and drawing near.

26 And the watchman seeth another man running, and the watchman calleth unto the gatekeeper, and saith, `Lo, a man running by himself;' and the king saith, `Also this one is bearing tidings.'

27 And the watchman saith, `I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.' And the king saith, `This [is] a good man, and with good tidings he cometh.'

28 And Ahimaaz calleth and saith unto the king, `Peace;' and he boweth himself to the king, on his face, to the earth, and saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah thy God who hath shut up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king.'

29 And the king saith, `Peace to the youth -- to Absalom?' And Ahimaaz saith, `I saw the great multitude, at the sending away of the servant of the king, even thy servant [by] Joab, and I have not known what [it is].'

30 And the king saith, `Turn round, station thyself here;' and he turneth round and standeth still.

31 And lo, the Cushite hath come, and the Cushite saith, `Let tidings be proclaimed, my lord, O king; for Jehovah hath delivered thee to-day out of the hand of all those rising up against thee.'

32 And the king saith unto the Cushite, `Peace to the youth -- to Absalom?' And the Cushite saith, `Let them be -- as the youth -- the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee for evil.'

33 And the king trembleth, and goeth up on the upper chamber of the gate, and weepeth, and thus he hath said in his going, `My son! Absalom my son; my son Absalom; oh that I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son.'

Holman Christian Standard Bible CSB

1 David reviewed his troops and appointed commanders of hundreds and of thousands over them.

2 He then sent out the troops, one third under Joab, one third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and one third under Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, "I will also march out with you."

3 "You must not go!" the people pleaded. "If we have to flee, they will not pay any attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not pay any attention to us because you are worth 10,000 of us. Therefore, it is better if you support us from the city."

4 "I will do whatever you think is best," the king replied to them. So he stood beside the gate while all the troops marched out by hundreds and thousands.

5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, "Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake." All the people heard the king's orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

6 Then David's forces marched into the field to engage Israel in battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim.

7 The people of Israel were defeated by David's soldiers, and the slaughter there was vast that day-20,000 [casualties].

8 The battle spread over the entire region, and that day the forest claimed more people than the sword.

9 Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David's soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom's head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended in midair.

10 One of the men saw [him] and informed Joab. He said, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!"

11 "You just saw [him]!" Joab exclaimed. "Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you 10 silver pieces and a belt!"

12 The man replied to Joab, "Even if I had the weight of 1,000 pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. For we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for me.'

13 If I had jeopardized my own life-and nothing is hidden from the king-you would have abandoned me."

14 Joab said, "I'm not going to waste time with you!" He then took three spears in his hand and thrust them into Absalom's heart while he was still alive in the oak tree,

15 and 10 young men who were Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

16 Afterwards, Joab blew the ram's horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab restrained them.

17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.

18 When he was alive, Absalom had erected for himself a pillar in the King's Valley, for he had said, "I have no son to preserve the memory of my name." So he gave the pillar his name. It is still called Absalom's Monument today.

19 Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the Lord has delivered him from his enemies."

20 Joab replied to him, "You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but today you aren't taking good news, because the king's son is dead."

21 Joab then said to the Cushite, "Go tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

22 However, Ahimaaz son of Zadok persisted and said to Joab, "No matter what, please let me run too behind the Cushite!" Joab replied, "My son, why do you want to run since you won't get a reward?"

23 "No matter what I want to run!" "Then run!" Joab said to him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

24 David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gate and over to the wall. The watchman looked out and saw a man running alone.

25 He called out and told the king. The king said, "If he's alone, he bears good news." As the first runner came closer,

26 the watchman saw another man running. He called out to the gatekeeper, "Look! Another man is running alone!" "This one is also bringing good news," said the king.

27 The watchman said, "The way the first man runs looks to me like the way Ahimaaz son of Zadok runs." "This is a good man; he comes with good news," the king commented.

28 Ahimaaz called out to the king, "All is well," and then bowed down to the king with his face to the ground. He continued, "May the Lord your God be praised! He delivered up the men who rebelled against my lord the king."

29 The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom all right?" Ahimaaz replied, "When Joab sent the king's servant and your servant, I saw a big disturbance, but I don't know what [it was]."

30 The king said, "Move aside and stand here." So he stood to one side.

31 Just then the Cushite came and said, "May my lord the king hear the good news: today the Lord has delivered you from all those rising up against you!"

32 The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom all right?" The Cushite replied, "May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and to all who rise up against you with evil intent."

33 The king was deeply moved and went up to the gate chamber and wept. As he walked, he cried, "My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!"