When one ¹  of the men saw this, he reported it to Joab saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.

So David asked the Lord what he should do. ¹  This time ²  the Lord ³  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ⁴ 

When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army ¹  of the Philistines.”

Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. ¹ 

Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ¹  mule, it ²  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ³  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

King Hiram of Tyre ¹  sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace ²  for David.

All the land was weeping loudly ¹  as all these people were leaving. ²  As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving ³  on the road that leads to the desert.