2 Samuel 17

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

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

2 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.

I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only,

3 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.”

and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace.”

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

The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

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

Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let’s hear likewise what he says.”

6 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].”

When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.”

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

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

8 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.

Hushai said moreover, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

9 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!’

Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’

10 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.

Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

11 “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.

But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.

12 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.

So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him.

13 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]!”

Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there is not one small stone found there.”

14 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.

Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil on Absalom.

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

Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way.

16 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.”

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’”

17 [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.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and report to them, and they went and told King David; for they could not risk being seen coming into the city.

18 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].

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

19 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].

The woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and spread out crushed grain on it; and nothing was known.

20 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.

Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water.” When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 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!”

After they had departed, 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 counseled against you.”

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

Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan.

23 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].

When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home to his city, set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

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

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

25 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.

Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

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

Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

27 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]

When David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

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

brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, roasted grain,

29 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.

honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who were with him to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”