2 Samuel 17

1 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me, I pray, choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David to-night;

Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.

2 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;

I will come on him while he is weary and weak and will surprise him with fear. The people who are with him will flee, and I will attack only the king.

3 and I will bring back all the people to thee. The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: all the people shall be in peace.

I will bring back all the people to you, like a bride coming to her husband, and all the people will be at peace under you.”

4 And the saying was right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

What Ahithophel said pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

5 And Absalom said, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and we will hear also what he says.

Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Arkite, too, and let us hear what he says.”

6 And Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom spoke to him saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we carry out his word? If not, speak thou.

When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom explained to him what Ahithophel had said and then asked Hushai, “Should we do what Ahithophel has said? If not, tell us what you advise.”

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

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

8 And Hushai said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are of exasperated spirit, 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.

Hushai added, “You know your father and his men are strong warriors, and that they are bitter, and they are like a bear robbed of her cubs in a field. Your father is a man of war; he will not sleep with the army tonight.

9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or some such place; and it will come to pass, when some of them fall at the first, whoever heareth it will say, There has been slaughter among the people that follow Absalom,

Look, right now he is probably hidden in some pit or in some other place. It will happen that when some of your men have been killed at the beginning of an attack, that whoever hears it will say, 'A slaughter has taken place among the soldiers who follow Absalom.'

10 and even the valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt; for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with him are valiant men.

Then even the bravest soldiers, whose hearts are like the heart of a lion, will be afraid because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that the men who are with him are very strong.

11 But I counsel that all Israel be speedily gathered to thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

So I advise you that all Israel should be gathered together to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sands that are by the sea, and that you go to battle in person.

12 And we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

Then we will come on him wherever he may be found, and we will cover him as the dew falls on the ground. We will not leave even one of his men, or him himself, alive.

13 And if he withdraw into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the torrent, until there be not one small stone found there.

If he retreats into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city and we will drag it into the river, until there is no longer even a small stone found there.”

14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. And Jehovah had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order that Jehovah might bring evil upon Absalom.

Then Absalom and the men of Israel said, “Hushai the Arkite's advice is better than Ahithophel's.” Yahweh had ordained the rejection of Ahithophel's good advice in order to bring destruction on Absalom.

15 And Hushai said 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 counselled.

Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel in such and such a way, but I have advised something else.

16 And now 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.

Now then, go quickly and report to David; say to him, 'Do not camp tonight at the fords of the Arabah, but by all means cross over, or the king will be swallowed up along with all the people who are with him.'”

17 And Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; and the maid went and told them; and they went and told king David, for they might not be seen to come into the city.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at the spring of Rogel. A female servant used to go and inform them what they needed to know, for they could not risk being seen going into the city. When the message came, then they were to go and tell King David.

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

But a young man saw them this time and told Absalom. So Jonathan and Ahimaaz went away quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, into which they descended.

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

The man's wife took the covering for the well and spread it over the well's opening, and tossed grain over it, so no one knew Jonathan and Ahimaaz were in the well.

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

Absalom's men came to the woman of the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman told them, “They have crossed over the river.” So after they had looked around and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 And it came to pass after they had departed, that 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 counselled against you.

It came about after they had left that Jonathan and Ahimaaz came up out of the well. They went to report to King David; they said to him, “Get up and cross quickly over the water because Ahithophel has given such and such advice about you.”

22 Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there was not one of them missing that had not gone over the Jordan.

Then David arose and all the people who were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan. By morning daylight not one of them had failed to cross over the Jordan.

23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose and went to his house, to his city, and gave charge to his household, and hanged himself, and he died; and he was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and left. He went home to his own city, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. In this way he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

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

Then David came to Mahanaim. As for Absalom, he crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab; which Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra the Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether the Ishmaelite, who had slept with Abigail, who was the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab.

26 And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

Then Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

27 And as soon as David came to Mahanaim, 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,

It came about when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,

28 brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched [corn], and beans, and lentils, and parched [pulse],

brought sleeping mats and blankets, bowls and pots, and wheat, barley flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

29 and honey, and cream, and sheep, and cheese of kine to David, and to the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.

honey, butter, sheep, and milk curds, so that David and the people with him could eat. These men had said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”