The Israelites were defeated by David's men and many were killed that day—some twenty thousand.
This is how Absalom treated all the Israelites who came to the king for his judgment. So he captured the loyalty of the men of Israel.
David's army marched out to face the Israelites in battle, which was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
The battle covered the whole countryside, and that day more died because of the forest than were killed by the sword.
The battle that followed was hard-fought, but eventually Abner and his men were defeated by David's men.
Abner shouted to Joab: “Do we have to keep killing each other forever? Don't you realize that if we go on it'll only get worse? How long are you going to wait before you order your men to stop chasing their brothers?”
However, they had killed three hundred and sixty of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin.
In just one day, Pekah, son of Remaliah, killed 120,000 fighting men in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers.
to you, the one who gives victory to kings. You saved your servant David from death by the sword.
You can be certain of this: the wicked won't go unpunished, but the good will be saved.
My son, honor the Lord and the king, and don't join those who are rebellious,