1 T hen Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose 12, 000 men, and I will leave and go after David tonight.

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

2 I will come upon him while he is tired and weak. I will fill him with fear so that all the people who are with him will run away. Then I will kill the king alone

and 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:

3 a nd return all the people to you. All will return if the man you want to kill is dead. Then all the people will be at peace.”

and I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

4 T he plan pleased Absalom and all the leaders of Israel.

And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

5 T hen Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also. Let us hear what he has to say.”

Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.

6 W hen Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has said this. Should we do as he says? If not, tell us.”

And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.

7 S o Hushai said to Absalom, “This time what Ahithophel has said to do is not good.”

And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

8 H ushai said, “You know your father and his men. They are powerful and angry, like a bear robbed of her young ones in the field. And your father is a very able man of war. He will not stay with the people during the night.

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, 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.

9 H e has now hidden himself in one of the caves, or in another place. When some of the people are killed in the first battle, whoever hears it will say, ‘There have been many people killed who follow Absalom.’

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

10 E ven the one who has strength of heart like the heart of a lion will be afraid. For all Israel knows that your father is a powerful man, and that those who are with him are men with strength of heart.

And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

11 B ut I say that all Israel should be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as much as the sand by the sea. And you yourself should go into battle.

Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

12 S o we will find David wherever he is. We will fall on him like water falls on the ground in the early morning. And not he or any of the men with him will be left.

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

13 I f he runs into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city. We will pull it into the valley until not even a small stone is left there.”

Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

14 T hen Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The words of Hushai the Archite are better than the words of Ahithophel.” In this way the Lord had planned to destroy the good leading of Ahithophel, so He might bring trouble to Absalom. David Is Told to Leave

And 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 appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.

15 H ushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the religious leaders, “This is what Ahithophel said that Absalom and the leaders of Israel should do. And this is what I have said they should do.

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

16 S o be quick to send someone to tell David, ‘Do not stay the night in the desert beside the place where the Jordan is crossed. But cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be destroyed.’”

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

17 N ow Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at Enrogel. And a woman servant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David. For they could not be seen coming into the city.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.

18 B ut a boy saw them, and told Absalom. So the two of them left in a hurry and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in the open space in the center of his house. And they went down into it.

Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.

19 T hen the woman took the covering and spread it over the well’s mouth, and spread grain on it, so nothing was known of it.

And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

20 T hen Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman answered, “They have crossed the river.” And after looking and not finding them, they returned to Jerusalem.

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

21 W hen they had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Be quick to get ready and cross over the water. For Ahithophel has told them to come against you.”

And it came to pass, after they were 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 hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

22 S o David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By the light of morning, not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

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

23 W hen Ahithophel saw that his words were not followed, he got onto his donkey and went home to his city. He told those of his family what they must do, and he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s grave.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him 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.

24 T hen David came to Mahanaim. Absalom and all the men of Israel with him crossed the Jordan.

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

25 A bsalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra the Israelite, who went in to Nahash’s daughter Abigal, the sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah.

And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man’s son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab’s mother.

26 A nd Israel and Absalom set up their tents in the land of Gilead.

So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

27 W hen David had come to Mahanaim, he met Nahash’s son Shobi from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Ammiel’s son Machir from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.

And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

28 T hey brought him beds, washing pots, dishes, grain, flour, seeds,

brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

29 h oney, sour milk, sheep, and cheese from the cattle, for David and his men to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert.”

and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.