¹ And David had the people who were with him numbered, and he put over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds.

² And David sent the people out, a third of them under the orders of Joab, and a third under the orders of Abishai, son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, And I myself will certainly go out with you.

³ But the people said, It is better for you not to go out: for if we are put to flight, they will not give a thought to us, and if death overtakes half of us, it will be nothing to them: but you are of more value than ten thousand of us: so it is better for you to be ready to come to our help from this town.

⁴ And the king said to them, I will do whatever seems best to you. So the king took his place by the door of the town, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.

⁵ And the king gave orders to Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Because of me, be gentle to the young man Absalom. And this order about Absalom was given in the hearing of all the people.

⁶ So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the fight took place in the woods of Ephraim.

⁷ And the people of Israel were overcome there by the servants of David, and there was a great destruction that day, and twenty thousand men were put to the sword.

⁸ And the fighting went on over all the face of the country: and the woods were responsible for more deaths than the sword.

⁹ And Absalom came across some of David's men. And Absalom was seated on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great tree, and his head became fixed in the tree and he was lifted up between earth and heaven, and the beast under him went on.

¹⁰ And a certain man saw it and said to Joab, I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.

¹¹ And Joab said to the man who had given him the news, If you saw this, why did you not put your sword through him, and I would have given you ten bits of silver and a band for your robe?

¹² And the man said to Joab, Even if you gave me a thousand bits of silver, I would not put out my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king gave orders to you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take care that the young man Absalom is not touched.

¹³ And if I had falsely put him to death (and nothing may be kept secret from the king), you would have had nothing to do with me.

¹⁴ Then Joab said, I would have made it safe for you. And he took three spears in his hand, and put them through Absalom's heart, while he was still living, in the branches of the tree.

¹⁵ And ten young men, servants of Joab, came round Absalom and put an end to him.

¹⁶ And Joab had the horn sounded, and the people came back from going after Israel, for Joab kept them back.

¹⁷ And they took Absalom's body and put it into a great hole in the wood, and put a great mass of stones over it: and every man of Israel went in flight to his tent.

¹⁸ Now Absalom, before his death, had put up for himself a pillar in the king's valley, naming it after himself; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and to this day it is named Absalom's pillar.

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, Let me go and give the king news of how the Lord has done right in his cause against those who took up arms against him.

²⁰ And Joab said, You will take no news today; another day you may give him the news, but you will take no news today, because the king's son is dead.

²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go and give the king word of what you have seen. And the Cushite, making a sign of respect to Joab, went off running.

²² Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said to Joab again, Whatever may come of it, let me go after the Cushite. And Joab said, Why have you a desire to go, my son, seeing that you will get no reward for your news?

²³ Whatever may come of it, he said, I will go. Then he said to him, Go. So Ahimaaz went running by the lowland road and overtook the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David was seated between the two town doors; and the watchman went up to the roof of the doorways, on the wall, and, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running by himself.

²⁵ And the watchman gave news of it to the king. And the king said, If he is coming by himself, then he has news. And the man was travelling quickly, and came near.

²⁶ Then the watchman saw another man running: and crying out in the direction of the door he said, Here is another man running by himself. And the king said, He, like the other, comes with news.

²⁷ And the watchman said, It seems to me that the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and his news will be good.

²⁸ And Ahimaaz, crying out to the king, said, It is well. And falling down before the king, with his face to the earth, he said, May the Lord your God be praised, who has given up the men who took up arms against my lord the king!

²⁹ And the king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And Ahimaaz said in answer, When Joab sent me, your servant, I saw a great outcry going on, but I had no knowledge of what it was.

³⁰ And the king said, Get back and take your place here. So turning to one side, he took his place there.

³¹ And then the Cushite came and said, I have news for my lord the king: today the Lord has done right in your cause against all those who took up arms against you.

³² And the king said to the Cushite, Is the young man Absalom safe? And the Cushite said in answer, May all the king's haters and those who do evil against the king, be as that young man is!

³³ Then the king was much moved, and went up into the room over the door, weeping, and saying, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! if only my life might have been given for yours, O Absalom, my son, my son!

¹ (A Psalm of David.) Do not be angry because of the wrongdoers, or have envy of the workers of evil.

² For they will quickly be cut down like grass, and become dry like the green plants.

³ Have faith in the Lord, and do good; be at rest in the land, and go after righteousness.

⁴ So will your delight be in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.

⁵ Put your life in the hands of the Lord; have faith in him and he will do it.

⁶ And he will make your righteousness be seen like the light, and your cause like the shining of the sun.

⁷ Take your rest in the Lord, waiting quietly for him; do not be angry because of the man who does well in his evil ways, and gives effect to his bad designs.

⁸ Put an end to your wrath and be no longer bitter; do not give way to angry feeling which is a cause of sin.

⁹ For the evil-doers will be cut off: but those who have faith in the Lord will have the earth for their heritage.

¹⁰ For in a short time the evil-doer will be gone: you will go searching for his place, and it will not be there.

¹¹ But the gentle will have the earth for their heritage; they will take their delight in peace without measure.

¹² The sinner has evil designs against the upright, lifting up the voice of wrath against him.

¹³ He will be laughed at by the Lord, who sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴ The evil-doers have taken out their swords, their bows are bent; for crushing the poor, and to put to death those who are upright in their ways.

¹⁵ But their swords will be turned into their hearts, and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶ The little which the good man has is better than the wealth of evil-doers.

¹⁷ For the arms of the evil-doers will be broken: but the Lord is the support of the good.

¹⁸ The days of the upright are numbered by the Lord, and their heritage will be for ever.

¹⁹ They will not be shamed in the evil time, and in the days when all are in need of food they will have enough.

²⁰ But the wrongdoers will come to destruction, and the haters of the Lord will be like the fat of lambs, they will be burned up; they will go up in smoke, and never again be seen.

²¹ The sinner takes money and does not give it back; but the upright man has mercy, and gives to others.

²² Those who have his blessing will have the earth for their heritage; but those who are cursed by him will be cut off.

²³ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he takes delight in his way.

²⁴ Even if he has a fall he will not be without help: for the hand of the Lord is supporting him.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old, but I have not seen the good man without help, or his children looking for bread.

²⁶ All the day he is ready to have mercy and to give; his children are a blessing.

²⁷ Be turned from evil, and do good; and your place will be for ever.

²⁸ For the Lord is a lover of righteousness, and takes care of his saints; they will be kept safe for ever; but the seed of the evil-doers will be cut off.

²⁹ The upright will have the earth for their heritage, and will go on living there for ever.

³⁰ The mouth of the good man says words of wisdom; the talk of his tongue is of righteousness.

³¹ The law of his God is in his heart; he will never make a false step.

³² The sinners are watching the upright man, desiring to put him to death.

³³ The Lord will not give him into their hands, or be against him when he is judged.

³⁴ Be waiting for the Lord, and keep his way; and you will be lifted up, and have the land for your heritage: when the evil-doers are cut off, you will see it.

³⁵ I have seen the evil-doer in great power, covering the earth like a great tree.

³⁶ But he came to an end, and there was no sign of him; I made a search for him and he was not there.

³⁷ Give attention to the good man, and take note of the upright; because the end of that man is peace.

³⁸ But as for the sinners, they will be cut off together; the end of the wrongdoers is destruction.

³⁹ But the Lord is the saviour of the upright: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰ And the Lord will be their help, and keep them safe: he will take them out of the hands of the evil-doers, and be their saviour, because they had faith in him.