2 Samuel 17

¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue David tonight.

² "I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and I will throw him into a panic. All the people with him will flee, and I will strike down only the king.

³ "Then I will bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you seek, all the people will be at peace."

⁴ The plan seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

⁵ But Absalom said, "Call Hushai the Arkite also, and let us hear what he has to say too."

⁶ When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has spoken in this way. Should we follow his advice? If not, you speak."

⁷ Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good."

⁸ Hushai said, "You know your father and his men—they are warriors, and they are fierce, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the open field. Your father is a man of war; he will not spend the night with the troops.

⁹ "Even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And when some of them fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.'

¹⁰ "Then even the brave soldier whose heart is like the heart of a lion will utterly melt with fear. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior, and those who are with him are valiant men."

¹¹ "So I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—as numerous as the sand by the sea—be gathered to you, and that you yourself go into battle.

¹² "Then we will come upon him in whatever place he is found, and we will descend on him as the dew falls on the ground. Of him and all the men with him, not even one will be left.

¹³ "And if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is found there."

¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Arkite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For the LORD had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

¹⁵ Then Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do this and that, but I advised them to do this and that.

¹⁶ "Now send word quickly and tell David, 'Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.'"

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a female servant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city.

¹⁸ But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.

¹⁹ The woman took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well and scattered grain on it, so nothing was known.

²⁰ When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They crossed over the brook of water." They searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went and told King David. They said to David, "Get up and cross the water quickly, for Ahithophel has counseled against you."

²² So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went to his house in his city. He set his affairs in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

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

²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

²⁶ Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,

²⁸ brought beds, basins, and pottery—wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

²⁹ honey, curds, 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."