< 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 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 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.
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 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 returns everything the man whom you [are] seeking all the people it will be peace.
4 What Ahithophel said pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
And it was pleasing the word in [the] eyes of Absalom 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 he said Absalom summon please also Hushai the Arkite so let us hear what? [is] in mouth his also he.
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 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 So Hushai said to Absalom, “The advice that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.”
And he said Hushai to Absalom not [is] good the counsel which he has counseled Ahithophel at the time this.
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 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 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.'
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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Then David came to Mahanaim. As for Absalom, he crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
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 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 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 Then Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
And it encamped Israel and Absalom [the] land of Gilead.
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 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 and blankets, bowls and pots, and wheat, barley flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,
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 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 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.