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 Ahithophel said unto Absalom, 'Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-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 come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who [are] with him, and I have smitten the king by himself,

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 bring back all the people unto thee — as the turning back of the whole [is] the man whom thou art seeking — all the people are peace.

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

And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, 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 Absalom saith, 'Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what [is] in his mouth — even he.'

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 Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, 'According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou — speak thou.'

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

And Hushai saith unto Absalom, 'Not good [is] the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

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 Hushai saith, 'Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they [are] heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father [is] a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

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!’

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

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.

and he also, the son of valour, whose heart [is] as the heart of the lion, doth utterly melt, for all Israel doth know that thy father is a hero, and sons of valour [are] those with him.

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.

'So that I have counselled: Let all Israel be diligently gathered unto thee, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, and thou thyself art going in the midst;

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 have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we [are] upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who [are] with him even 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 is not one small stone found there.”

And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found 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 the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil on Absalom.

And Absalom saith — and all the men of Israel — 'Better [is] the counsel of Hushai the Archite than the counsel of Ahithophel;' and Jehovah willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Jehovah's bringing unto Absalom the evil.

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 Hushai saith unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, 'Thus and thus hath Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I have counselled;

16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Do not 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 hastily, and declare to David, saying, Lodge not to-night in the plains of the wilderness, and also, certainly pass over, lest there be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are 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 could not risk being seen coming into the city.

And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them — and they go and have declared [it] to king David — for they are not able to be seen to go in to 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.

And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there,

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 the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been 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 Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, 'Where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman saith to them, 'They passed over the brook of water;' and they seek, and have not found, and turn back 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 cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, 'Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against 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 riseth, and all the people who [are] with him, and they pass over the Jordan, till the light of the morning, till one hath not been lacking who hath not passed over the 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 Ahithophel hath seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddleth the ass, and riseth and goeth unto his house, unto his city, and giveth charge unto his household, and strangleth himself, and dieth, and he is buried in the burying-place 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 came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the 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 Amasa hath Absalom set instead of Joab over the host, and Amasa [is] a man's son whose name is Ithra the Israelite who hath gone in unto Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab;

26 Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

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

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 cometh to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,

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

couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [corn], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [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 cheese of kine, have brought nigh for David, and for the people who [are] with him to eat, for they said, 'Thy people [is] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.'