2 Samuel 17

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

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

2 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,

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.

3 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.”

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.”

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

And this word pleased Absalom and all those greater by birth of Israel.

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

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

6 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.”

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?”

7 And Hushai says to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has counseled [is] not good at this time.”

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

8 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;

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.

9 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;

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.’

10 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.

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.

11 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;

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.

12 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.

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.

13 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.”

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.”

14 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.

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.

15 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;

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.

16 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.”

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.’”

17 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.

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.

18 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,

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.

19 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.

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.

20 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.

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.

21 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.”

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.”

22 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.

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.

23 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.

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.

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

Then David went to the encampment, and Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 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;

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.

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

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

27 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,

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,

28 [have brought] bed, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [grain], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [pulse],

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,

29 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.”

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.