David’s men prepared for the battle

18 David arranged his soldiers for the battle. He divided them into groups, and appointed a commander for each 100 soldiers and a commander for each 1,000 soldiers. 2 He sent them out in three groups. Joab commanded one group, Joab’s brother Abishai commanded a second group, and Ittai from Gath commanded the third group. David said to them, “I myself will go with you to the battle.”

3 But his soldiers said, “No, we will not allow you to go with us. If they force us all to run away, they will not be concerned about that happening. Or if they kill half of us, that will also not be what they want. To them, killing you is more important than killing 10,000 of us. So it will be better that you stay here in the city and send help to us.”

4 The king replied, “Okay, I will do whatever seems best to you.” So he stood at the gate and watched while his soldiers marched out, group by group.

5 While they were leaving, the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “For my sake, do not harm my son Absalom!” And all the troops heard it when David gave that order about Absalom to those three commanders.