2 Samuel 17

1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.

And Achitophel said to Abessalom, Let me now choose out for myself twelve thousand men, and I will arise and follow after David this night:

2 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.

and I will come upon him when he [is] weary and weak-handed, and I will strike him with terror; and all the people with him shall flee, and I will strike the king only of all.

3 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.”

And I will bring back all the people to you, as a bride returns to her husband: only you seek the life of one man, and all the people shall have peace.

4 What Ahithophel said pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

And the saying [was] right in the eyes of Abessalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Arkite, too, and let us hear what he says.”

And Abessalom said, Call now also Chusi the Arachite, and let us hear what [is] in his mouth, even in his also.

6 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.”

And Chusi went in to Abessalom, and Abessalom spoke to him, saying, After this manner spoke Achitophel: shall we do according to his word? but if not, do you speak.

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

And Chusi said to Abessalom, This counsel which Achitophel has counselled this one time [is] not good.

8 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.

And Chusi said, You know your father and his men, that they are very mighty, and bitter in their spirit, as a bereaved bear in the field, [and as a wild boar in the plain]: and your father [is] a man of war, and will not give the people rest.

9 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.'

For, behold, he is now hidden in one of the hills or in some [other] place: and it shall come to pass when he falls upon them at the beginning, that [some one] will certainly hear, and say, There has been a slaughter among the people that follow after Abessalom.

10 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.

Then even he [that is] strong, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, —it shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that your father [is] mighty, and they that are with him [are] mighty men.

11 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.

For thus I have surely given counsel, that all Israel be generally gathered to you from Dan even to Bersabee, as the sand that is upon the sea-shore for multitude: and that your presence go in the midst of them.

12 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.

And we will come upon him in one of the places where we shall find him, and we will encamp against him, as the dew falls upon the earth; and we will not leave of him and of his men so much as one.

13 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.”

And if he shall have taken refuge with his army in a city, then shall all Israel take ropes to that city, and we will draw it even into the river, that there may not be left there even a stone.

14 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.

And Abessalom, and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Chusi the Arachite [is] better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the Lord ordained to disconcert the good counsel of Achitophel, that the Lord might bring all evil upon Abessalom.

15 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.

And Chusi the Arachite said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus Achitophel counselled Abessalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.

16 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.'”

And now send quickly and report to David, saying, Lodge not this night in Araboth of the wilderness: even go and make haste, lest [one] swallow up the king, and all the people with him.

17 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.

And Jonathan and Achimaas stood by the well of Rogel, and a maidservant went and reported to them, and they go and tell king David; for they might not be seen to enter into the city.

18 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.

But a young man saw them and told Abessalom: and the two went quickly, and entered into the house of a man in Baurim; and he had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

19 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.

And a woman took a covering, and spread it over the mouth of the well, and spread out ground corn upon it to dry, and the thing was not known.

20 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.

And the servants of Abessalom came to the woman into the house, and said, Where [are] Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman said to them, They are gone a little way beyond the water. And they sought and found them not, and returned to Jerusalem.

21 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.”

And it came to pass after they were gone, that they came up out of the pit, and went on their way; and reported to king David, and said to David, Arise you and go quickly over the water, for thus has Achitophel counselled concerning you.

22 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.

And David rose up and all the people with him, and they passed over Jordan till the morning light; there was not one missing who did not pass over Jordan.

23 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.

And Achitophel saw that his counsel was not followed, and he saddled his ass, and rose and departed to his house into his city; and he gave orders to his household, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

24 Then David came to Mahanaim. As for Absalom, he crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

And David passed over to Manaim: and Abessalom crossed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 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.

And Abessalom appointed Amessai in the room of Joab over the host. And Amessai was the son of a man whose name was Jether of Jezrael: he went in to Abigaia the daughter of Naas, the sister of Saruia the mother of Joab.

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

And all Israel and Abessalom encamped in the land of Galaad.

27 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,

And it came to pass when David came to Manaim, that Uesbi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and Machir son of Amiel of Lodabar, and Berzelli the Galaadite of Rogellim,

28 brought sleeping mats and blankets, bowls and pots, and wheat, barley flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

brought ten embroidered beds, (with double coverings, ) and ten caldrons, and earthenware, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and meal, and beans, and pulse,

29 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.”

and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheeses of kine: and they brought them to David and to his people with him to eat; for [one] said, The people [is] faint and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.