his head struck against a bough, and his long and beautiful hair was entangled in the branches. And his mule passed on from under him, and left him hanging in the tree, with his head fixed among the branches.

And one of the soldiers of king David's army saw Absalom hanging in the oak, and ran and told Joab. And he said, "Wherefore didst thou not smite him to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver." But the soldier answered, "Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, 'Beware that none touch the young man Absalom."" Then Joab took three darts in his hand, and went and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

And when Absalom was slain, Joab blew the trumpet to call his soldiers back from pursuing the people who had followed Absalom. Then they took the body of Absalom and cast it into a

deep pit in the wood, and laid a great heap of stones upon it. And all the people of Israel who had followed Absalom fled every man to his tent.

Then Joab commanded one of the young men who were with him to go and tell the king what he had seen. And the man bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok the priest, who was with Joab, prayed him to let him run also after Cushi, the first messenger, to bear the tidings to king David. But Joab said, "Wherefore wouldst thou run, my son, seeing thou hast no good tidings?" And Ahimaaz said, "Howsoever, let me run." So he ran, and overran Cushi, and came first to the city.

Now David sat between the two gates waiting to see how the battle went; and the watchman stood upon the watch tower above the gate. And as Ahimaaz drew near, the watchman cried and told the king that he saw a man running. And the king said, "If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth." Then the watchman saw Cushi following, and he cried and said, "Behold another man running alone." And the king said, "He

also bringeth tidings." And the watchman said, "Methinketh that the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok." And the king said, "He is a good man, and bringeth good tidings."

Then Ahimaaz drew near, and called aloud to the king, "All is well." And he fell down upon his face before the king, and said, "Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king." And the king said, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" And Ahimaaz answered, "When Joab sent me, thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was." Then Cushi drew near, and said, "Tidings, my lord the king: for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee." And the king said, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" And Cushi answered, "The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is."

And when the king knew that Absalom his son was dead, he was much moved; and he went up

to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son !"

2 Samuel xviii.

A shekel was a silver coin in use among the children of Israel, worth about half-a-crown of English money.

A tumult is a disturbance.

The place where David sat between the two gates, to await the result of the battle, was the porch or covered way beneath the gate tower, where the governor of the city and the judges were accustomed to hold their courts. Over this there was a room; and above, the place of watch, where the watchman stood.

Chapter ExxXEE.

THE RETURN OF KING DAVID TO JERUSALEM.

DAVID mourned very bitterly for Absalom his son; for he had died in sin, whilst he was rebelling against his father and his king. He had not mourned thus for the infant child of Bathsheba whom God had taken from him; for he hoped that he was taken to his rest, and that he should go to him, when his appointed time should come

to die. But Absalom was cut off in the midst of his wickedness, while the curse of God was upon him; for it is written, "Cursed is he that setteth light by his father or his mother." Therefore David's sorrow was very great, for he remembered the words of Nathan the prophet, and looked upon the death of Absalom his son as a judgment upon his own sins. So "his spirit was overwhelmed within him, and his heart within him was desolate;" he "groaned in the disquietness of his heart, and went mourning all the day long."

And all the people heard how the king was grieved for his son, and the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people. And the men of David's army returned in silence into the city, "as people being ashamed steal away when they flee from battle." And the king covered his face, and cried with a loud voice, "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Then Joab went to king David, and complained because he mourned so much for Ab

1 Deuteronomy xxvii. 16.