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.

Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue 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 weak and will surprise him with fear. The people who are with him will flee, and I will attack only 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.”

I will bring back all the people to you, like a bride coming to her husband, and all the people will be at peace under you.”

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

What Ahithophel said pleased Absalom 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 Arkite, too, and let us hear 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 explained to him what Ahithophel had said and then asked Hushai, “Should we do what Ahithophel has said? If not, tell us what you advise.”

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

So Hushai said to Absalom, “The advice 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 added, “You know your father and his men are strong warriors, and that they are bitter, and they are like a bear robbed of her cubs in a field. Your father is a man of war; he will not sleep with the army tonight.

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!’

Look, right now he is probably hidden in some pit or in some other place. It will happen that when some of your men have been killed at the beginning of an attack, that whoever hears it will say, 'A slaughter has taken place among the soldiers 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.

Then even the bravest soldiers, whose hearts are like the heart of a lion, will be afraid because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that the men who are with him are very strong.

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.

So I advise you that all Israel should be gathered together to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sands that are by the sea, and that you go to battle in 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.

Then we will come on him wherever he may be found, and we will cover him as the dew falls on the ground. We will not leave even one of his men, or him himself, 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 retreats into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city and we will drag it into the river, until there is no longer even a 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.

Then Absalom and the men of Israel said, “Hushai the Arkite's advice is better than Ahithophel's.” Yahweh had ordained the rejection of Ahithophel's good advice in order to bring destruction 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 advised Absalom and the elders of Israel in such and such a way, but I have advised something else.

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 then, go quickly and report to David; say to him, 'Do not camp tonight at the fords of the Arabah, but by all means cross over, or the king will be swallowed up along with 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 at the spring of Rogel. A female servant used to go and inform them what they needed to know, for they could not risk being seen going into the city. When the message came, then they were to go and tell King David.

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 young man saw them this time and told Absalom. So Jonathan and Ahimaaz went away quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, into which they descended.

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 man's wife took the covering for the well and spread it over the well's opening, and tossed grain over it, so no one knew Jonathan and Ahimaaz were in the well.

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 men came to the woman of the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman told them, “They have crossed over the river.” So after they had looked around 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!”

It came about after they had left that Jonathan and Ahimaaz came up out of the well. They went to report to King David; they said to him, “Get up and cross quickly over the water because Ahithophel has given such and such advice about 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 crossed over the Jordan. By morning daylight not one of them had failed to cross 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 advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and left. He went home to his own city, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. In this way 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. As for Absalom, he crossed 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 had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether the Ishmaelite, who had slept with Abigail, who was the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab.

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

Then Israel and Absalom camped 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]

It came about when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and 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.

brought sleeping mats and blankets, bowls and pots, and 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, butter, sheep, and milk curds, so that David and the people with him could eat. These men had said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”