5. The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Deal gently with the young man Absalom.” All of the people heard the king instruct the commanders concerning Absalom.
6. So the people went out toward Israel in the field, but the fighting occurred in the forest of Ephraim.
7. The people of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David. That day the defeat was extensive, twenty thousand men.
8. The fighting spread across the land, and the people consumed by the forest were more numerous than those consumed by the sword that day.