Then Joab sent a full battle report to David.

How the warriors have fallen in the midst of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places!

When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going.

He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish giving the battle report to the king,

Then the army marched out to the field to fight against Israel. The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.

Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers.

However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David. David was becoming steadily stronger, while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker.

As the war continued between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was becoming more influential in the house of Saul.

When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans.

In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”

The battle there was spread out over the whole area, and the forest consumed more soldiers than the sword devoured that day.

Later there was another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gob. On that occasion Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of Rapha.

David inquired, “How were things going? Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them fell dead. Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”

Yet another battle occurred with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion Elhanan the son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.