2 Samuel 17

1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.

And Achitophel said to Abessalom, Let me now choose out for myself twelve thousand men, and I will arise and follow after David this night:

2 I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only,

and I will come upon him when he [is] weary and weak-handed, and I will strike him with terror; and all the people with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only of all.

3 and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace.”

And I will bring back all the people to thee, as a bride returns to her husband: only thou seekest the life of one man, and all the people shall have peace.

4 The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

And the saying [was] right in the eyes of Abessalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let’s hear likewise what he says.”

And Abessalom said, Call now also Chusi the Arachite, and let us hear what [is] in his mouth, even in his also.

6 When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.”

And Chusi went in to Abessalom, and Abessalom spoke to him, saying, After this manner spoke Achitophel: shall we do according to his word? but if not, do thou speak.

7 Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.”

And Chusi said to Abessalom, This counsel which Achitophel has counselled this one time [is] not good.

8 Hushai said moreover, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

And Chusi said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are very mighty, and bitter in their spirit, as a bereaved bear in the field, [and as a wild boar in the plain]: and thy father [is] a man of war, and will not give the people rest.

9 Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’

For, behold, he is now hidden in one of the hills or in some [other] place: and it shall come to pass when he falls upon them at the beginning, that [some one] will certainly hear, and say, There has been a slaughter among the people that follow after Abessalom.

10 Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

Then even he [that is] strong, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, —it shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that thy father [is] mighty, and they that are with him [are] mighty men.

11 But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.

For thus I have surely given counsel, that all Israel be generally gathered to thee from Dan even to Bersabee, as the sand that is upon the sea-shore for multitude: and that thy presence go in the midst of them.

12 So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him.

And we will come upon him in one of the places where we shall find him, and we will encamp against him, as the dew falls upon the earth; and we will not leave of him and of his men so much as one.

13 Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.”

And if he shall have taken refuge with his army in a city, then shall all Israel take ropes to that city, and we will draw it even into the river, that there may not be left there even a stone.

14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.

And Abessalom, and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Chusi the Arachite [is] better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the Lord ordained to disconcert the good counsel of Achitophel, that the Lord might bring all evil upon Abessalom.

15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way.

And Chusi the Arachite said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus Achitophel counselled Abessalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.

16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Don’t lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’”

And now send quickly and report to David, saying, Lodge not this night in Araboth of the wilderness: even go and make haste, lest [one] swallow up the king, and all the people with him.

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and report to them, and they went and told King David; for they couldn’t risk being seen coming into the city.

And Jonathan and Achimaas stood by the well of Rogel, and a maid-servant went and reported to them, and they go and tell king David; for they might not be seen to enter into the city.

18 But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.

But a young man saw them and told Abessalom: and the two went quickly, and entered into the house of a man in Baurim; and he had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

19 The woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and spread out crushed grain on it; and nothing was known.

And a woman took a covering, and spread it over the mouth of the well, and spread out ground corn upon it to dry, and the thing was not known.

20 Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water.” When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

And the servants of Abessalom came to the woman into the house, and said, Where [are] Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman said to them, They are gone a little way beyond the water. And they sought and found them not, and returned to Jerusalem.

21 After they had departed, they came up out of the well and went and told King David; and they said to David, “Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.”

And it came to pass after they were gone, that they came up out of the pit, and went on their way; and reported to king David, and said to David, Arise ye and go quickly over the water, for thus has Achitophel counselled concerning you.

22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan.

And David rose up and all the people with him, and they passed over Jordan till the morning light; there was not one missing who did not pass over Jordan.

23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home to his city, set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

And Achitophel saw that his counsel was not followed, and he saddled his ass, and rose and departed to his house into his city; and he gave orders to his household, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

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

And David passed over to Manaim: and Abessalom crossed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

And Abessalom appointed Amessai in the room of Joab over the host. And Amessai was the son of a man whose name was Jether of Jezrael: he went in to Abigaia the daughter of Naas, the sister of Saruia the mother of Joab.

26 Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

And all Israel and Abessalom encamped in the land of Galaad.

27 When David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

And it came to pass when David came to Manaim, that Uesbi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and Machir son of Amiel of Lodabar, and Berzelli the Galaadite of Rogellim,

28 brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, roasted grain,

brought ten embroidered beds, (with double coverings, ) and ten caldrons, and earthenware, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and meal, and beans, and pulse,

29 honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who were with him to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheeses of kine: and they brought them to David and to his people with him to eat; for [one] said, The people [is] faint and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.