4. Then the king said unto them, I will do what seems best unto you. And the king stood beside the gate, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5. And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.
6. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim,
7. where the people of Israel were slain before the slaves of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
8. For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.