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.

And he said Ahithophel to Absalom let me choose please two [plus] ten thousand man and I will arise and I will pursue after David this night.

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.

So I may come on him and he [will be] weary and slack of hands and I will terrify him and will flee all the people which [is] with him and I will strike down the king to only him.

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 as returns everything the man whom you [are] seeking all the people it will be peace.

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

And it was pleasing the word in [the] eyes of Absalom and in [the] eyes of all [the] elders of Israel.

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

And he said Absalom summon please also Hushai the Arkite so let us hear what? [is] in mouth his also he.

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].”

And he came Hushai to Absalom and he said Absalom to him saying according to the word this he has spoken Ahithophel ¿ will we do word his if not you speak.

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

And he said Hushai to Absalom not [is] good the counsel which he has counseled Ahithophel at the time this.

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.

And he said Hushai you you know father your and men his that [are] warriors they and [are] bitter of soul they like a bear robbed of cubs in the field and father your [is] a man of war and not he will pass [the] night 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!’

There! now he [has] hidden himself in one of the ravines or in one of the places and it will be when falls among them at the first and he will hear the [one who] hears and he will say it has been a slaughter among the people which [is] after 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.

And he also a son of strength whom heart his [is] like [the] heart of lion surely he will melt for [is] knowing all Israel that [is] a warrior father your and [are] sons of strength who [are] 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.

For I counsel certainly let it be gathered to you all Israel from Dan and to Beer Sheba like the sand which [is] at the sea for multitude and face your [will be] going in the 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.

And we will come against him (in one of *Q(k)*) the places where he is found there and we will set on him when it will fall the dew on the ground and not we will leave among him and among all the men who [are] with him also one.

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]!”

And if into a city he will be gathered and they will cause to bring all Israel to the city that ropes and we will drag him to the wadi until that not it has been found there also a pebble.

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.

And he said Absalom and every man of Israel [is] good [the] counsel of Hushai the Arkite more than [the] counsel of Ahithophel and Yahweh he had commanded to frustrate [the] counsel of Ahithophel good in order to bring Yahweh to Absalom calamity.

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

And he said Hushai to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests like this and like this he has counseled Ahithophel Absalom and [the] elders of Israel and like this and like this I have counseled I.

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.”

And therefore send quickly and tell to David saying may not you pass [the] night this night at [the] desert plains of the wilderness and also certainly you will pass over lest it should be swallowed up to the king and to all the people which [is] 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.

And Jonathan and Ahimaaz [were] staying at En Rogel and she went the maidservant and she told to them and they they went and they told to the king David for not they were able to be seen to go the city towards.

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].

And he saw them a young man and he told to Absalom and they went [the] two of them quickly and they came - to [the] house of a man in Bahurim and [belonged] to him a well in courtyard his 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].

And she took the woman and she spread out the covering on [the] face of the well and she spread on it the grain[s] and not it was known anything.

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.

And they came [the] servants of Absalom to the woman the house towards and they said where? [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan and she said to them the woman they have passed over [the] brook of water and they sought [them] and not they found [them] and they returned 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!”

And it was - after had gone they and they came up from the well and they went and they told to the king David and they said to David arise and pass over quickly the water for thus he has counseled on you Ahithophel.

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.

And he arose David and all the people which [was] with him and they passed over the Jordan until [the] light of the morning up to one [person] not [was] missing who not he had passed 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].

And Ahithophel he saw that not it was done counsel his and he saddled the donkey and he arose and he went to house his to city his and he commanded concerning household his and he hanged himself and he died and he was buried in [the] tomb of father his.

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

And David he had gone Mahanaim towards and Absalom he had passed over the Jordan he and every man 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.

And Amasa he had appointed Absalom in place of Joab over the army and Amasa [was] a son of a man and name his [was] Jether the Israelite who he had gone into Abigail [the] daughter of Nahash [the] sister of Zeruiah [the] mother of Joab.

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

And it encamped Israel and Absalom [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]

And it was when came David Mahanaim towards and Shobi [the] son of Nahash from Rabbah of [the] people of Ammon and Makir [the] 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.

Bed[s] and basins and a vessel of a potter and wheat and barley and flour and roasted grain and bean[s] and lentils and 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.

And honey and curd and sheep and cheese of [the] herd they brought for David and for the people which [was] with him to eat for they said the people [is] hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.