6. David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
7. There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men.
8. The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.
9. 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.
10. When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”
11. 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 of silver and a warrior’s belt.”