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:

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

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 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,

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 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.”

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

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

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

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 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.”

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

And Hushai says to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has counseled [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.

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;

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, 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;

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, 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.

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.

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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 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.

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.

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;

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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,

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.”

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.

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.

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 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.

24 And David passed over to Manaim: and Abessalom crossed over 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 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 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;

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

and Israel encamps with Absalom [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 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,

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,

[have brought] bed, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [grain], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [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; 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.”