1One day Ahithophel said to Absalom, ‘Here’s what I suggest. Choose 12,000 men. Start out tonight and go after David.2Attack him while he’s tired and weak. Fill him with terror. Then all the people with him will run away. Don’t strike down anyone except the king.3Bring all the other people back. After the man you want to kill is dead, everyone else will return to you. And none of the people will be harmed.’4Ahithophel’s plan seemed good to Absalom. It also seemed good to all the elders of Israel.5But Absalom said, ‘Send for Hushai, the Arkite. Then we can find out what he suggests as well.’6Hushai came to him. Absalom said, ‘Ahithophel has given us his advice. Should we do what he says? If we shouldn’t, tell us what you would do.’7Hushai replied to Absalom, ‘The advice Ahithophel has given you isn’t good this time.8You know your father and his men. They are fighters. They are as strong as a wild bear whose cubs have been stolen from her. Besides, your father really knows how to fight. He won’t spend the night with his troops.9In fact, he’s probably hiding in a cave or some other place right now. Suppose he attacks your troops first. When people hear about it, they’ll say, “Many of the troops who followed Absalom have been killed.”10Then the hearts of your soldiers will melt away in fear. Even those as brave as a lion will be terrified. That’s because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a fighter. They know that those with him are brave.11‘So here’s what I suggest. Bring together all the men of Israel from the town of Dan all the way to Beersheba. They are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. You yourself should lead them into battle.12Then we’ll attack David no matter where we find him. As dew completely covers the ground, we’ll completely overpower his entire army. We won’t leave him or any of his men alive.13He might try to get away by going into a city. If he does, all of us will bring ropes to that city. We’ll drag the whole city down into the valley. Not even a pebble of that city will be left.’14Absalom and all the men of Israel agreed. They said, ‘The advice of Hushai, the Arkite, is better than the advice of Ahithophel.’ The LORD had decided that Ahithophel’s good advice would fail. The LORD wanted to bring horrible trouble on Absalom.15Hushai spoke to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. He said, ‘Ahithophel has given advice to Absalom and the elders of Israel. He suggested that they should do one thing. But I suggested something else.16Send a message right away. Tell David, “Don’t spend the night in the desert at a place where people cross the River Jordan. Make sure you go on across. If you don’t, you and all the people with you will be swallowed up.” ’17Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel just outside Jerusalem. They knew they would be in danger if anyone saw them entering the city. A female servant was supposed to go and tell them what had happened. Then they were supposed to go and tell King David.18But a young man saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom about it. So the two men left right away. They went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard. They climbed down into it.19The man’s wife got a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well. Then she scattered corn on the covering. So no one knew that the men were hiding in the well.20Absalom’s men came to the house. They asked the woman, ‘Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?’ She answered, ‘They went across the brook.’ When the men looked around, they didn’t find anyone. So they returned to Jerusalem.21After they had gone, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well. They went to tell King David what they had found out. They said to him, ‘Go across the river right away. Ahithophel has told Absalom how to come after you and strike you down.’22So David and all the people with him started out. They went across the River Jordan. By sunrise, everyone had crossed over.23Ahithophel saw that his advice wasn’t being followed. So he put a saddle on his donkey. He started out for his house in his home town. When he arrived, he made everything ready for his death. He made out his will. Then he killed himself. And so he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
Absalom dies
24David went to Mahanaim. Absalom went across the River Jordan with all the men of Israel.25Absalom had made Amasa commander of the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether. Jether belonged to the family line of Ishmael. He had married Abigail. She was the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Zeruiah. Zeruiah was the mother of Joab.26Absalom and the Israelites camped in the land of Gilead.27David came to Mahanaim. Shobi, the son of Nahash, met him there. Shobi was from Rabbah in the land of Ammon. Makir, the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, met him there too. So did Barzillai from Rogelim in the land of Gilead.28They brought beds, bowls and clay pots. They brought wheat, barley, flour, and corn that had been cooked. They brought beans and lentils.29They brought honey, butter, sheep, and cheese that was made from cows’ milk. They brought all that food for David and his people to eat. They said, ‘These people have become tired. They’ve become hungry and thirsty in the desert.’
2 Samuel 17
English Standard Version
Hushai Saves David
1Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.2I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down only the king, (De 25:18; 2Sa 16:14; 1Ki 22:31)3and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,[1] and all the people will be at peace.”4And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.5Then Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” (2Sa 16:16)6And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.”7Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.”8Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,[2] like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. (Pr 17:12; Ho 13:8)9Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall[3] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’10Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. (Jos 2:11)11But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. (Ge 22:17; 2Sa 3:10)12So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left.13If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.”14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained[4] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. (2Sa 15:31; 2Sa 15:34)15Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. (2Sa 15:35)16Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’” (2Sa 15:28; 2Sa 20:19)17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. (Jos 15:7; Jos 18:16; 2Sa 15:27; 2Sa 15:36)18But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. (2Sa 3:16)19And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. (Jos 2:6)20When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook[5] of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.21After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, “Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” (2Sa 17:15)22Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father. (2Sa 15:12; 2Ki 20:1; Mt 27:5)24Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. (Jos 13:26)25Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,[6] who had married Abigal the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. (2Sa 19:13; 2Sa 20:9; 2Sa 20:12; 1Ki 2:5; 1Ki 2:32; 1Ch 2:13; 1Ch 2:16)26And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, (2Sa 9:4; 2Sa 10:1; 2Sa 12:26; 2Sa 12:29; 2Sa 19:31; 1Ki 2:7; Ezr 2:61)28brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,[7]29honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” (2Sa 15:23; 2Sa 16:2)