2 Samuel 17

1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom: “I will choose for myself twelve thousand men, and rising up, I will pursue David this night.

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, 'Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night,

2 And rushing against him, for he is weary and has weakened hands, I will strike him. And when all the people who are with him will have fled, I will strike down the king in isolation.

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 lead back the entire people, returning in the manner of one man. For you are seeking only one man. And 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 And this word pleased Absalom and all those greater by birth of Israel.

And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

5 But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite, and let us hear what he also may say.”

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

6 And when Hushai had gone to Absalom, Absalom said to him: “Ahithophel has spoken a word in this manner. Should we do it or not? What counsel do you give?”

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

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

8 And again Hushai declared, “You know your father, and the men who are with him, to be very strong and bitter in soul, comparable to a bear raging in the forest when her young have been taken away. Moreover, your father is a man of war, and so he will not live among 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 Perhaps now he hides in pits, or in another place, wherever he wills. And if by chance, in the beginning, anyone may fall, whoever hears about it, no matter what he has heard, will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who were following 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 And even the very strong, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will be weakened out of fear. For all the people of Israel know your father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are robust.

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 this seems to me to be the right counsel: Let all of Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand of the sea which is innumerable. And you will be in their midst.

'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 And we shall rush against him in whatever place he will have been found. And we shall cover him, as the dew usually falls upon the ground. And we shall not leave behind even one of 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 And if he will enter into any city, all of Israel shall encircle that city with ropes. And we will pull it into the torrent, so that there may not be found even one small stone from it.”

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 And Absalom, with all the men of Israel, said: “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” So, by an act of the Lord, the useful counsel of Ahithophel was defeated, in order that the Lord might lead evil over 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 And Hushai said to the priests, Zadok and Abiathar: “Ahithophel gave counsel to Absalom and to the elders of Israel in this and that manner. And I gave counsel in such and such a manner.

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 report to David, saying: ‘You shall not stay this night in the plains of the desert. Instead, without delay, go across. Otherwise the king may be engulfed, 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 But Jonathan and Ahimaaz remained beside the Fountain of Rogel. And a handmaid went away and reported it to them. And they set out, so that they might carry the report to king David. For they could not be seen, nor enter 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 certain young man saw them, and he revealed it to Absalom. Yet truly, they traveled quickly and entered into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they descended into it.

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 Then a woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as if drying hulled barley. And so the matter was hidden.

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 And when the servants of Absalom had entered into the house, they said to the woman, “Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman responded to them, “They passed through hurriedly, after they had taken a little water.” But those who were seeking them, when they had not found them, 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 And when they had gone, they ascended from the well. And traveling, they reported to king David, and they said: “Rise up, and go across the river quickly. For Ahithophel has given a counsel of this kind 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 Therefore, David rose up, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan, until first light. And not even one of them was left behind who had not crossed over the river.

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 Then Ahithophel, seeing that his counsel had not been done, saddled his donkey, and he rose up and went away to his own house and to his own city. And putting his house in order, he killed himself by hanging. And he was buried in the sepulcher 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 went to the encampment, and Absalom crossed 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 Truly, Absalom appointed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. Now Amasa was the son of a man who was called Ithra of Jezrael, who entered to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, who was the mother of Joab.

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 And Israel made camp with Absalom in the land of Gilead.

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

27 And when David had arrived at the encampment, Shobi, the son of Nahash, from Rabbah, of the sons 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 to him bedding, and tapestries, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and cooked grain, and beans, and lentils, and fried chick peas,

couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [corn], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [pulse],

29 and honey, and butter, sheep and fattened calves. And they gave these to David and to the people who were with him to eat. For they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the desert.

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.'