6. Then the army marched out to the field to fight against Israel. The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
7. The army of Israel was defeated there by David’s men. The slaughter there was great that day – 20,000 soldiers were killed.
8. The battle there was spread out over the whole area, and the forest consumed more soldiers than the sword devoured that day.
9. Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his mule, it went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, while the mule he had been riding kept going.
10. When one of the men saw this, he reported it to Joab saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.