2 Samuel 18:9 - Plain English Version

⁹ While they were fighting, David’s son Absalom rode around in the bush on a donkey. He suddenly met some of David’s men, and he tried to get away. The donkey ran under a big tree, and Absalom’s head got stuck in the branches. The donkey kept on running, so Absalom was left there. He hung from the tree and couldn’t get down.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

⁹ And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

⁹ Then Absalom [unavoidably] met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and Absalom's head caught fast [in a fork] of the oak; and the mule under him ran away, leaving him hanging between the heavens and the earth.

American Standard Version (1901)

⁹ And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom was riding upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between heaven and earth; and the mule that was under him went on.

Common English Bible

⁹ Absalom came upon some of David’s men. Absalom was riding on a mule, and the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree. Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair while the mule under him kept on going.

Catholic Public Domain Version

⁹ Then it happened that Absalom, riding on a mule, met the servants of David. And when the mule had entered under a thick and large oak tree, his head became trapped in the oak. And while he was suspended between heaven and earth, the mule on which he had been sitting continued on.

2 Samuel 18:9 Cross References

2 Samuel 18:10

One of David’s men saw him, and he went to the boss soldier, Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging from a tree.”

2 Samuel 18:14

Joab was angry, and he said, “I can’t wait for you all day.” And he got 3 spears and went to Absalom. He was still alive and hanging there in that tree. Joab went and stabbed him 3 times in the chest.

Mark 7:10

You see, God told Moses to tell everyone to look after their old people. Moses wrote this law, ‘You have to respect your father and mother.’ And he also wrote, ‘You have to punish anyone that rubbishes their father or mother. You have to kill that person.’

Galatians 3:13

But if we try to follow that law, we will not be able to do it properly, and in the end God will punish us. But we don’t have to follow that law. You see, God already punished Jesus Christ instead of us. When Jesus died, he paid for us, and he made us free from that trouble that comes from the law. God also says this in his book, “If people hang somebody from wood to kill them, that person gets trouble from God.” And that is what they did, they nailed Jesus Christ to that wooden cross, and he got that trouble from God. Jesus Christ died like that to pay for all of us. He bought us for God.