2 Samuel 17

1 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David tonight,

Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set off in pursuit of David tonight.

2 and come on him, and he [will be] weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people who [are] with him have fled, and I have struck the king by himself,

I'll attack him while he is tired and weak. I'll catch him by surprise and all his men will run away. I'll only kill the king

3 and I bring back all the people to you—as the turning back of the whole [except] the man whom you are seeking—[then] all the people are [at] peace.”

and bring everybody else back to you. When everybody returns apart from the one man you're after, the whole country will be at peace.”

4 And the word is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all [the] elderly of Israel.

This plan looked good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

5 And Absalom says, “Now call for Hushai the Archite also, and we hear what [is] in his mouth—even he.”

But then Absalom said, “Call in Hushai the Archite too, and let's hear what he's got to say as well.”

6 And Hushai comes to Absalom, and Absalom speaks to him, saying, “According to this word Ahithophel has spoken; do we do his word? If not, you—speak.”

When Hushai came in, Absalom, asked him, “Ahithophel has recommended this plan. Should we go ahead with it? If not, what's your suggestion?”

7 And Hushai says to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has counseled [is] not good at this time.”

“For once Ahithophel's advice isn't good,” Hushai replied.

8 And Hushai says, “You have known your father and his men, that they [are] heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and your father [is] a man of war, and does not lodge with the people;

“You know what your father and his men are like. They're great fighters, and now they're as furious as a she-bear robbed of her cubs. In any case, your father is experienced in military tactics, and he won't spend the night with his men.

9 behold, now, he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places, and it has been at the falling among them at the commencement, that the hearer has heard and said, There has been a slaughter among the people who [are] after Absalom;

Right now he's holed up in a cave or some place like that. If he attacks first and some of your men are killed, people who hear about it will say, ‘Absalom's men are being slaughtered.’

10 and he also, the son of valor, whose heart [is] as the heart of the lion, utterly melts, for all Israel knows that your father is a hero, and those with him [are] sons of valor.

Then even the bravest soldier who has the heart of a lion will be scared to death, because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a powerful man who has brave men with him.

11 So that I have counseled: let all Israel be diligently gathered to you, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, and you yourself are going in the midst;

My recommendation is that you call up the entire Israelite army from Dan to Beersheba—an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore! Once they've assembled, then you yourself lead them into battle!

12 and we have come to him in one of the places where he is found, and we [are] on him as the dew falls on the ground, and there has not been left of him and of all the men who [are] with him even one.

Then we'll attack David wherever he is, and we'll fall on him as dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor a single one of all the men with him will be left alive!

13 And if he is gathered to a city, then they have caused all Israel to carry ropes to that city, and we have drawn it to the brook until there has not even been found a stone there.”

If he tries to find protection in a town, all of Israel will bring ropes to that town, and we will pull it down into the valley so that not even a stone will be left.”

14 And Absalom says—and all the men of Israel, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite [is] better than the counsel of Ahithophel”; and YHWH willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of YHWH’s bringing the calamity to Absalom.

Absalom and all the Israelite leaders said, “Hushai the Arkite's advice is better than Ahithophel's.” For the Lord had decided to block Ahithophel's good advice in order that he might bring disaster on Absalom.

15 And Hushai says to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Thus and thus Ahithophel has counseled Absalom and the elderly of Israel, and thus and thus I have counseled;

Hushai spoke to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, and told them, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the Israelite leaders to act in one way, but I have advised them to act in this different way.

16 and now, send quickly, and declare [it] to David, saying, Do not lodge in the plains of the wilderness tonight, and also, certainly pass over, lest there is a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are with him.”

So send a message quickly to David and tell him, ‘Don't wait and spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but cross over immediately or the king and everybody with him will be destroyed.’”

17 And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maidservant has gone and declared [it] to them—and they go and have declared [it] to King David—for they are not able to be seen to go into the city.

Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel because they couldn't be seen entering the city. A servant girl would come and tell them what was happening. Then they would go and let King David know.

18 And a youth sees them, and declares [it] to Absalom; and both of them go on quickly, and come to the house of a man in Bahurim, and he has a well in his court, and they go down there,

But a boy did see them and he told Absalom. So the two left immediately and went to the house of a man in the town of Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed into it.

19 and the woman takes and spreads the covering over the face of the well, and spreads the ground grain on it, and the thing has not been known.

His wife took a cloth to cover the well and spread it out over the opening and then scattered grain over it. No one knew the men were there.

20 And the servants of Absalom come to the woman at the house, and say, “Where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman says to them, “They passed over the brook of water”; and they seek, and have not found, and return to Jerusalem.

When Absalom's officers arrived they asked the woman, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They crossed over the stream,” she replied. The men searched for them but didn't find them, so they went back to Jerusalem.

21 And it comes to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare [it] to King David, and say to David, “Rise, and pass over the waters quickly, for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.”

After Absalom's officers left, the two men climbed out of the well and rushed off to give the king their message. “Have everybody get up and cross the river right away, for Ahithophel's advice is to attack you immediately.”

22 And David rises, and all the people who [are] with him, and they pass over the Jordan, until the morning light, until not one has been lacking who has not passed over the Jordan.

David and everybody with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By the time it got light there wasn't anybody who hadn't crossed over.

23 And Ahithophel has seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddles the donkey, and rises and goes to his house, to his city, and gives charge to his household, and strangles himself, and dies, and he is buried in the burying-place of his father.

When Ahithophel realized that his advice had been ignored, he saddled up his donkey and left for his home in the town where he lived. He put his affairs in order and then he hanged himself. He died and was buried in his father's tomb.

24 And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him;

David went on to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed over the Jordan with the entire Israelite army.

25 and Absalom has set Amasa over the host instead of Joab, and Amasa [is] a man’s son whose name is Ithra the Israeli who has gone in to Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab;

Absalom had put Amasa in charge of the army to replace Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who lived with Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

26 and Israel encamps with Absalom [in] the land of Gilead.

The Israelites under Absalom set up camp in the land of Gilead.

27 And it comes to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Behold-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,

When David arrived at Mahanaim, he was welcomed by Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir, son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.

28 [have brought] bed, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [grain], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [pulse],

They brought bedding, bowls, and clay jars, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

29 and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of cows; they have brought [these] near for David, and for the people who [are] with him to eat, for they said, “Your people [are] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.”

honey, curds, sheep, and cheese made from cow's milk for David and the people with him to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry, tired, and thirsty from their time in the wilderness.”