2S 17:1Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.
2S 17:2And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed. And I will terrorize him, and all the people who are with him will flee; then I will strike down the king only.
2S 17:3And I will bring all the people back to you; the return of the whole depends on what happens to the man whom you are seeking. All the people will be at peace.
2S 17:4And the word seemed right in the sight of Absalom and in the sight of all the elders of Israel.
2S 17:5Then Absalom said, Call now for Hushai the Archite also that we may hear what he also has to say.
2S 17:6So Hushai came to Absalom; and Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken in this way. Shall we do what he says? If not, you speak.
2S 17:7And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.
2S 17:8Hushai said moreover, You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and bitter in soul, like a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and your father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.
2S 17:9He is now hidden in some pit or some other place; and when some of them fall at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who are with Absalom.
2S 17:10And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt in fear; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and that those who are with him are valiant men.
2S 17:11But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, like the sand that is by the sea in multitude, and that you go into battle in person.
2S 17:12Then we will come upon him in some place where he will be found, and we will light upon him as dew falls upon the ground; and we will not leave among him and among the men who are with him even one.
2S 17:13And if he should withdraw into a city, all Israel will carry ropes to that city, and we will pull it into the river, until not even a stone is found there.
2S 17:14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel; for Jehovah had ordained the defeat of the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that Jehovah might bring evil upon Absalom.
2S 17:15Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus did I counsel.
2S 17:16Now therefore send word quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but pass over by all means; otherwise, the king will be swallowed up, as well as all the people who are with him.
2S 17:17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in 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 coming into the city.
2S 17:18But a young man saw them, and he told Absalom. And both of them went off quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard; and they went down into it.
2S 17:19And his wife took the covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, and she strew grain over it; and the matter was unknown.
2S 17:20Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have crossed over the brook of water. And when they searched for them and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
2S 17:21And after they departed, they came up out of the well and went and told King David. And they said to David, Rise up and cross quickly over the water, for thus has Ahithophel given counsel against you.
2S 17:22So David rose up with all the people who were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan; by morning’s light there was not one left who had not crossed over the Jordan.
2S 17:23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and rose up and went to his house in his city; and he set his house in order and hanged himself. And he died and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.
2S 17:24Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
2S 17:25And Absalom set Amasa over the army, instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in unto Abigail the daughter of Nahash, Zeruiah’s sister, Joab’s mother.
2S 17:26And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
2S 17:27And when David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Amiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
2S 17:28Brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and meal and parched grain and beans and lentils and other parched grain
2S 17:29And honey and butter and sheep and cheese from the herd to David and the people who were with him for them to eat; for they said, The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.
© 2016 Living Stream Ministry
All rights reserved.