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.
Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set off in pursuit of 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'll attack him while he is tired and weak. I'll catch him by surprise and all his men will run away. I'll only kill the king
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 bring everybody else back to you. When everybody returns apart from the one man you're after, the whole country will be at peace.”
4 Absalom and all the Israeli leaders [who were with him] thought that what Ahithophel said would be good to do.
This plan looked good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.
5 But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai also, and we will hear what he suggests.”
But then Absalom said, “Call in Hushai the Archite too, and let's hear what he's got to say as well.”
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 came in, Absalom, asked him, “Ahithophel has recommended this plan. Should we go ahead with it? If not, what's your suggestion?”
7 Hushai replied, “This time what Ahithophel has suggested is not good advice.
“For once Ahithophel's advice isn't good,” Hushai replied.
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.
“You know what your father and his men are like. They're great fighters, and now they're as furious as a she-bear robbed of her cubs. In any case, your father is experienced in military tactics, and he won't spend the night with his men.
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!’
Right now he's holed up in a cave or some place like that. If he attacks first and some of your men are killed, people who hear about it will say, ‘Absalom's men are being slaughtered.’
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.
Then even the bravest soldier who has the heart of a lion will be scared to death, because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a powerful man who has brave men with him.
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.
My recommendation is that you call up the entire Israelite army from Dan to Beersheba—an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore! Once they've assembled, then you yourself lead them into battle!
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.
Then we'll attack David wherever he is, and we'll fall on him as dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor a single one of all the men with him will be left alive!
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]!”
If he tries to find protection in a town, all of Israel will bring ropes to that town, and we will pull it down into the valley so that not even a stone will be left.”
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 Israelite leaders said, “Hushai the Arkite's advice is better than Ahithophel's.” For the Lord had decided to block Ahithophel's good advice in order that he might bring disaster 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.
Hushai spoke to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, and told them, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the Israelite leaders to act in one way, but I have advised them to act in this different 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.”
So send a message quickly to David and tell him, ‘Don't wait and spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but cross over immediately or the king and everybody with him will be destroyed.’”
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.
Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel because they couldn't be seen entering the city. A servant girl would come and tell them what was happening. Then they would go and let King David know.
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 did see them and he told Absalom. So the two left immediately and went to the house of a man in the town of Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed into it.
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].
His wife took a cloth to cover the well and spread it out over the opening and then scattered grain over it. No one knew the men were there.
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.
When Absalom's officers arrived they asked the woman, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They crossed over the stream,” she replied. The men searched for them but didn't find them, so they went back 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 Absalom's officers left, the two men climbed out of the well and rushed off to give the king their message. “Have everybody get up and cross the river right away, for Ahithophel's advice is to attack you immediately.”
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.
David and everybody with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By the time it got light there wasn't anybody who hadn't crossed over.
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 realized that his advice had been ignored, he saddled up his donkey and left for his home in the town where he lived. He put his affairs in order and then he hanged himself. He died and was buried in his father's tomb.
24 David [and his soldiers] arrived at Mahanaim. And Absalom [and all his Israeli soldiers] also crossed the Jordan [River].
David went on to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed over the Jordan with the entire Israelite army.
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 had put Amasa in charge of the army to replace Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who lived with Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
26 Absalom and his Israeli soldiers set up their tents in [the] Gilead [region].
The Israelites under Absalom set up camp 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 arrived at Mahanaim, he was welcomed by Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir, son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.
28 brought sleeping mats, bowls, clay pots, barley, wheat flour, parched grain, beans, and lentils to them.
They brought bedding, bowls, and clay jars, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,
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, curds, sheep, and cheese made from cow's milk for David and the people with him to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry, tired, and thirsty from their time in the wilderness.”
