3 But they replied: “You must not come out with us. For if we flee, no one will care; even if half of us die, no one will care. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that we have you to help us from the city.”
4 The king said to them, “I will do what you think best.” So the king stood by the gate as all the soldiers marched out in units of a hundred and a thousand.
5 But the king gave this command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “Be gentle with young Absalom for my sake.” All the soldiers heard as the king gave commands to the various leaders with regard to Absalom.
6 David’s army then took the field against Israel, and a battle was fought in the forest near Mahanaim.
7 The forces of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the casualties there that day were heavy—twenty thousand men.
8 The battle spread out over that entire region, and the forest consumed more combatants that day than did the sword.
9 Absalom unexpectedly came up against David’s servants. He was mounted on a mule, and, as the mule passed under the branches of a large oak tree, his hair caught fast in the tree. He hung between heaven and earth while the mule under him kept going.