1 ¶ Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night,

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, `Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night,

2 a nd I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed and will make him afraid, and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only.

and come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who with him, and I have smitten the king by himself,

3 T hus will I turn all the people back unto thee, and when they have returned (for that man is whom thou dost seek), all the people shall be in peace.

and I bring back all the people unto thee -- as the turning back of the whole the man whom thou art seeking -- all the people are peace.

4 A nd this word seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and of all the elders of Israel.

And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

5 T hen Absalom said, Now call Hushai, the Archite, also, and let us likewise hear what he says.

And Absalom saith, `Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what in his mouth -- even he.'

6 A nd when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Thus spoke Ahithophel; shall we follow his word or not? Speak thou.

And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, `According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou -- speak thou.'

7 T hen Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.

And Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Not good the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

8 F or, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and now their souls are bitter, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.

And Hushai saith, `Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

9 B ehold, he is hid now in some pit or in some other place, and if some of thy men are overthrown at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

lo, now, he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places, and it hath been, at the falling among them at the commencement, that the hearer hath heard, and said, There hath been a slaughter among the people who after Absalom;

10 T hus even the valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.

and he also, the son of valour, whose heart as the heart of the lion, doth utterly melt, for all Israel doth know that thy father is a hero, and sons of valour those with him.

11 T herefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

`So that I have counselled: Let all Israel be diligently gathered unto thee, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, as the sand that by the sea for multitude, and thou thyself art going in the midst;

12 T hen we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him, there shall not be left so much as one.

and we have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who with him even one.

13 M oreover, if he goes into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until not even one small stone is found there.

And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found there even a stone.'

14 T hen 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 given orders to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

And Absalom saith -- and all the men of Israel -- `Better the counsel of Hushai the Archite than the counsel of Ahithophel;' and Jehovah willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Jehovah's bringing unto Absalom the evil.

15 ¶ Then Hushai said unto Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counselled.

And Hushai saith unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, `Thus and thus hath Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I have counselled;

16 N ow, therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass the Jordan; lest the king be swallowed up and all the people that are with him.

and now, send hastily, and declare to David, saying, Lodge not to-night in the plains of the wilderness, and also, certainly pass over, lest there be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are with him.'

17 N ow Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel, for they could not be seen coming into the city; and a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.

And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them -- and they go and have declared to king David -- for they are not able to be seen to go in to the city.

18 N evertheless, a young man saw them and told Absalom, but both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there,

19 A nd the woman of the house took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground wheat upon it, and the thing was not known.

and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.

20 A nd when Absalom’s slaves came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

And the servants of Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, `Where Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman saith to them, `They passed over the brook of water;' and they seek, and have not found, and turn back to Jerusalem.

21 A nd it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told King David and said unto David, Arise and pass quickly over the water, for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.

And it cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, `Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.'

22 ¶ Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan before the morning light; there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan.

And David riseth, and all the people who with him, and they pass over the Jordan, till the light of the morning, till one hath not been lacking who hath not passed over the Jordan.

23 A nd when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose, and went home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

And Ahithophel hath seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddleth the ass, and riseth and goeth unto his house, unto his city, and giveth charge unto his household, and strangleth himself, and dieth, and he is buried in the burying-place of his father.

24 T hen David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him;

25 A nd Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab; this Amasa was the son of a man of Israel named Ithra, who had gone in to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

and Amasa hath Absalom set instead of Joab over the host, and Amasa a man's son whose name is Ithra the Israelite who hath gone in unto Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab;

26 S o Israel pitched camp with Absalom in the land of Gilead.

and Israel encampeth with Absalom the land of Gilead.

27 A nd it came to pass, when David arrived at Mahanaim, that Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lodebar; and Barzillai, the Gileadite of Rogelim,

And it cometh to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,

28 b rought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched wheat and beans and lentils and parched grain

couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted, and beans, and lentiles, and roasted,

29 a nd honey and butter and sheep and cheese of cows for David and for the people that were with him, to eat, for they said, These people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.

and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, have brought nigh for David, and for the people who with him to eat, for they said, `Thy people hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.'