Then David called one of the soldiers ¹  and said, “Come here and strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died.

Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight ¹  before us.” Joab said, “So be it!” ² 

Then ten soldiers who were Joab’s armor bearers struck Absalom and finished him off.

The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you ¹  be like that young man!”

David said to the young man ¹  who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ² 

The young man who was telling him this ¹  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

David said to the young man who told this to him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner.” ¹ 

Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson.

Then David prayed to ¹  God for the child and fasted. ²  He would even ³  go and spend the night lying on the ground.

He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight ¹  and lock the door behind her!”

So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had instructed. Then all the king’s sons got up; each one rode away on his mule and fled.

In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west ¹  on a road beside the hill.

Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I ¹  will do this thing! Go and bring back the young man Absalom!

But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it.

One of Joab’s soldiers who stood over Amasa said, “Whoever is for ¹  Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left. Capture one of the soldiers ¹  and take his equipment for yourself!” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him.

So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them ¹  near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth ²  and buried it in the tomb of Abner ³  in Hebron. ⁴ 

Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk ¹  and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” ² 

When David had gone a short way beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a couple of donkeys that were saddled, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred raisin cakes, a hundred baskets of summer fruit, ¹  and a container of wine.

The king asked Ziba, “Why did you bring these things?” ¹  Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on, the loaves of bread ²  and the summer fruit are for the attendants to eat, and the wine is for those who get exhausted in the desert.” ³