Chapter 17

Hushai’s Counsel

1 Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight.

2 “aI will come upon him while he is weary and 1exhausted and terrify him, so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then bI will strike down the king alone,

3 and I will bring back all the people to you. 1The return of everyone depends on the man you seek; then all the people will be at apeace.”

4 So the 1plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, “Now call aHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what 1he has to say.”

6 When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to 1him, “Ahithophel has spoken 2thus. Shall we 3carry out his plan? If not, you speak.”

7 So Hushai said to Absalom, “aThis time the advice that Ahithophel has 1given is not good.”

8 Moreover, Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and they are 1fierce, alike a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is an 2expert in warfare, and will not spend the night with the people.

9 “Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the 1caves or in another place; and it will be 2when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

10 “And even the one who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, awill completely 1lose heart; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.

11 “But I counsel that all Israel be surely gathered to you, afrom Dan even to Beersheba, bas the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that 1you personally go into battle.

12 “So we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will 1fall on him aas the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.

13 “If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will adrag it into the 1valley until not even a small stone is found there.”

14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For athe Lord had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom.

Hushai’s Warning Saves David

15 Then aHushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “1This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and 1this is what I have counseled.

16 “Now therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, ‘aDo not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, or else the king and all the people who are with him will be 1destroyed.’ ”

17 aNow Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at bEn-rogel, and a maidservant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not be seen entering the city.

18 But a lad did see them and told Absalom; so the two of them departed quickly and came to the house of a man ain Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down 1into it.

19 And athe woman 1took a covering and spread it over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, so that nothing was known.

20 Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And athe woman said to them, “They have crossed the brook of water.” And when they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 It came about after they had departed that they came up out of the well and went and told King David; and they said to David, “aArise and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you.”

22 Then David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed the Jordan; and by 1dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan.

23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not 1followed, he 2saddled his donkey and arose and went to his home, to ahis city, and 3bset his house in order, and cstrangled himself; thus he died and was buried in the grave of his father.

24 Then David came to aMahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 Absalom set aAmasa over the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was 1Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of bNahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

26 And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

27 Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi athe son of Nahash from bRabbah of the sons of Ammon, cMachir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and dBarzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,

28 brought abeds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched seeds,

29 honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who were with him, ato eat; for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”