2 Samuel 17

1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.

Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Allow me to choose 12,000 men, and I will leave [with them] tonight to pursue David.

2 And I will catch up with him while he is weary and discouraged, and will thow him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. And I will strike the king alone.

We will attack him while he is tired and discouraged, and cause him to be very frightened. All the soldiers who are with him will run away. We will kill only the king.

3 Then all the people will come back to you, as a bride returns to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be in peace."

Then we will bring back all his soldiers to you, like [SIM] a (bride/woman comes to her husband when she is married). You are wanting to kill only one man; so the other people will not be harmed.”

4 And the advice seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

Absalom and all the Israeli leaders [who were with him] thought that what Ahithophel said would be good to do.

5 Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite, and let's hear what he says."

But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai also, and we will hear what he suggests.”

6 When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has spoken thus. Should we follow his advice? And if not, speak up."

So when Hushai arrived, Absalom told him what Ahithophel had suggested. Then he asked Hushai, “What do you think we should do? If you do not think that we should do what Ahithophel suggests, tell us [what you think that we should do].”

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

Hushai replied, “This time what Ahithophel has suggested is not good advice.

8 Moreover, Hushai said, "You know your father and his men, that they are warriors, and that they are as fierce as a bear robbed of her cubs in the wild, or a sow snared in the wild. Your father is expert in war, and will not camp with the people.

You know that your father and the men who are with him are strong soldiers, and that now they are very angry, like [SIM] a mother bear whose cubs have been stolen from her. Furthermore, your father knows how to fight because he has fought in many battles. He will not stay with his troops during the night.

9 Look, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. And it will happen when some of them have fallen first, that whoever hears it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'

Right now he is probably already hiding in one of the pits, or in some other place. [If his soldiers start to attack your soldiers, and] if they kill some of them, whoever hears about that will say ‘Many of the soldiers with Absalom have been killed!’

10 Then even the one who is brave, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a warrior, and those who are with him are brave men.

Then your other soldiers, even if they are as fearless [SIM, IDM] as lions, they will become very afraid. Do not forget that everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great/strong soldier, and that the soldiers who are with him are also very brave/courageous.

11 But, I strongly advise as follows: Let all Israel be gathered to you from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea in number, and that you personally go into battle.

“So what I suggest is that you summon all the Israeli soldiers, from Dan [in the far north] to Beersheba [in the far south]. They will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore [HYP]. And then you yourself lead us into the battle.

12 So we will come upon him in some place where he can be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left.

We will find [your father], wherever he is, and we will attack him [from all sides], like [SIM] dew covers all the ground. And neither he nor any of the soldiers who are with him will survive.

13 Moreover, if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will take up ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the riverbed, until there isn't one pebble to be found there."

If he escapes into some city, all our soldiers will bring ropes and pull that city down into the valley. As a result, not one stone will be left there [on top of the hill where that city was]!”

14 Then Absalom and all Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For YHWH had commanded that Ahithophel's counsel should be defeated, so that that YHWH could bring Absalom to ruin.

Absalom and all the other Israeli men [who were with him] said, “What Hushai suggests is better than what Ahithophel suggested.” The reason that happened was that Yahweh had determined that if they would accept the good advice that Ahithophel had given them, [they would have been able to defeat/kill David]. But [as a result of their doing what Hushai suggested], Yahweh would cause a disaster to happen to Absalom.

15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "Here is the council Ahithophel gave Absalom and the elders of Israel, and here is what I counseled.

Then Hushai told the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, what both he and Ahithophel had suggested to Absalom and the Israeli leaders.

16 Now therefore send quickly and tell David, saying, 'Do not stay the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over. Otherwise the king and all the people who are with him will be swallowed up.'"

Then he said to them, “Send [a message] quickly to David. Tell him to not stay at the place where people walk across the river, near the desert. Instead, he and his soldiers must cross [the Jordan River] immediately, in order that they will not be killed/wiped out.”

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel, and a female servant was to go and tell them, and they would go and inform king David. For they were not to be seen going into the city.

[The priest’s two sons, ] Jonathan and Ahimaaz, were waiting at En-Rogel [Spring], outside Jerusalem. They did not [dare to] enter the city, because if someone saw them, [he would report it to Absalom]. [While they were at En-Rogel, ] a female servant [of the two priests] would frequently go to them and report to them [what was happening], and then they would go and report it to King David.

18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So they both departed quickly and reached the house of a man in Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.

But a young man saw them, and went and reported it to Absalom. [They found out what the young man had done, ] so both of them left quickly and went to stay in the house of a man in Bahurim. That man had a well in his courtyard; so the two men went down into the well [to hide].

19 And the woman took a covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain on it, so that nothing could be noticed.

The man’s wife took a cloth/mat and covered the well, and scattered grain on top of it in order that no one would know [that two men were hiding inside it].

20 Then Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, and they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And the woman said to them, "They have crossed the brook of water." And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

Some of Absalom’s soldiers [found out where the two men had gone. So they] went to the house, and asked the woman, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” She replied, “They crossed the river.” So the soldiers [crossed the river and] searched for them. But they could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

21 It came about after they had left that they climbed out of the well, and left and told king David. And they said to him, "Get up and cross quickly over the water, for Ahithophel has given such and such counsel against you."

After they had gone, the two men came out of the well and went and reported to King David [what had happened and] what Ahithophel had suggested. Then they said to him, “Cross the river quickly!”

22 Then David and all the people who were with him got up and they crossed the Jordan. By dawn there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan.

So David and all his soldiers quickly started to cross the Jordan [River], and by dawn they had all crossed to the other side.

23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went up to his home in his city. Then he set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

When Ahithophel realized that Absalom was not going to do what he suggested, he put a saddle on his donkey and returned to his own town. He gave [to his family] instructions about his possessions, and then he hanged himself [because he knew that Absalom would be defeated and that he would be considered a traitor and be killed]. His body was buried in the tomb where his ancestors [had been buried].

24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all Israel with him.

David [and his soldiers] arrived at Mahanaim. And Absalom [and all his Israeli soldiers] also crossed the Jordan [River].

25 And Absalom had put Amasa over the army in place of of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jether the Ishmaelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Jesse, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

Absalom had appointed [his cousin] Amasa to be the commander of his army, instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Jether, a descendant of Ishmael. Amasa’s mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah.

26 So Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

Absalom and his Israeli soldiers set up their tents in [the] Gilead [region].

27 Now it happened when David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the people of Ammon, Makir the son of Ammiel of Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

When David [and his soldiers] arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah [city] in the Ammon area, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-Debar [city], and Barzillai from Rogelim [town] in [the] Gilead [region]

28 brought couches for sleeping, and covers, and basins, and pottery utensils, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched grain, and beans, and lentils,

brought sleeping mats, bowls, clay pots, barley, wheat flour, parched grain, beans, and lentils to them.

29 and honey, and curd of the flock, and cheese of the herd. And they presented them to David and to the people who were with him to eat. For they said, "The people are hungry and tired and thirsty in the wilderness."

They brought honey and curds, sheep, and some cream/cheese for David and his soldiers to eat. They knew that David and his soldiers would be hungry and tired and thirsty [from marching] in the desert.