2 Samuel 18

¹ David got everyone with him together and counted them. He put leaders over the men. Leaders over thousands. Leaders over hundreds.

⁹ Absalom ran into David's soldiers while riding his mule. The mule ran under the thick branches of a huge oak tree. Absalom's head got caught in the branches. He hung there between the sky and the earth while his mule kept running.

¹⁷ They took Absalom's body and threw it into a deep hole in the forest. They piled a huge pile of rocks on top of him. The rest of Israel ran away. Every man ran home.

³³ The king started shaking. His whole body shook! He went up the stairs to the room above the gate. He cried as he walked. "My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I should have died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!"