2 Samuel 17

Ahithophel and Hushai Advise Absalom

1Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out tonight and pursue David. 2I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee. I will strike down the king alone. 3Then I will bring back all the people to you. The return of them all depends on the one man you are pursuing; and all the people will be at peace.” 4This proposal pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel. 5But Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite too, and let us hear what he has to say as well.” 6When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “This is what Ahithophel has proposed. Should we follow his advice? If not, speak up.” 7Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” 8Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men — they are warriors, and they are as fierce as a bear in the wild robbed of her cubs. And your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops. 9Right now he is hiding in one of the caves or in some other place. If some of our men fall at the first attack, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ 10Then even the bravest man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will lose all courage, for all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those with him are brave men. 11So my counsel is this: let all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and you yourself go into battle in person. 12We will come upon him in whatever place he is found and fall on him as the dew falls on the ground; not one will be left of him or of all the men with him. 13And if he withdraws into a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble is left of it.” 14Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had determined to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

Warning Sent to David

15Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel this way and that; but I counseled this way and that. 16Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness; be sure to cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’” 17Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, since they could not risk being seen entering the city; a servant girl would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David. 18But 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 climbed down into it. 19The man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, then scattered grain on top of it, so that nothing could be noticed. 20When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman answered, “They crossed over the stream.” They searched but could not find them, and returned to Jerusalem. 21After they had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan 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 given this counsel against you.” 22So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan; by daybreak, not one of them was left who had not crossed the Jordan. 23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his own city. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. He died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

David at Mahanaim

24David came to Mahanaim, while Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who had married Abigail daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. 27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28brought bedding, basins, and pottery, along with wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, roasted seeds, 29honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat — for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”