Kings II 17

1 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:

Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night;

2 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 strike the king only of all.

And I will come upon him while he [is] weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that [are] with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:

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

And I will bring back all the people to thee: the man whom thou seekest [is] as if all returned: [so] all the people shall be in peace.

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

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

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

Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.

6 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 you speak.

And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do [after] his saying? if not, speak thou.

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

And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given, [is] not good at this time.

8 And Chusi said, You know your 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 your father [is] a man of war, and will not give the people rest.

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they [are] mighty men, and they [are] chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father [is] a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

9 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 amongst the people that follow after Abessalom.

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place: and it will come to pass, when some of them [are] overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

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

And he also [that is] valiant, whose heart [is] as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father [is] a mighty man, and [they] who [are] with him [are] valiant men.

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

Therefore I counsel that all Israel should be generally gathered to thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude; and that thou shouldst go to battle in thy own person.

12 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.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that [are] with him there shall not be left so much as one.

13 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.

Moreover, if he shall have entered into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there is not one small stone found there.

14 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.

And 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 appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

15 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.

Then said Hushai to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counseled.

16 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.

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that [are] with him.

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

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a maid servant went and told them; and they went and told king David.

18 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.

Nevertheless, a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; into which they descended.

19 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.

And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn upon it; and the thing was not known.

20 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.

And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where [is] Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, they have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find [them], they returned to Jerusalem.

21 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 you and go quickly over the water, for thus has Achitophel counselled concerning you.

And it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came out of the well, and went and told king David, and said to David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counseled against you.

22 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.

Then David arose, and all the people that [were] with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that had not gone over Jordan.

23 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.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled [his] ass, and arose, and went home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died. and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.

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

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

25 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.

And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa [was] a man's son, whose name [was] Ithra, an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

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

So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

27 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,

And it came to pass, when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

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

Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched [corn], and beans, and lentils, and parched [pulse],

29 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.

And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of cows, for David, and for the people that [were] with him, to eat: for they said, The people [are] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.