2 Samuel 16–17

¹And David hath passed on a little from the top, and lo, Ziba, servant of Mephibosheth—to meet him, and a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred of summer-fruit, and a bottle of wine. ²And the king saith unto Ziba, ‘What—these to thee?’ and Ziba saith, ‘The asses for the household of the king to ride on, and the bread and the summer-fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for the wearied to drink in the wilderness.’ ³And the king saith, ‘And where is the son of thy lord?’ and Ziba saith unto the king, ‘Lo, he is abiding in Jerusalem, for he said, To-day do the house of Israel give back to me the kingdom of my father.’ ⁴And the king saith to Ziba, ‘Lo, thine are all that Mephibosheth hath;’ and Ziba saith, ‘I have bowed myself—I find grace in thine eyes, my lord, O king.’

⁵And king David hath come in unto Bahurim, and lo, thence a man is coming out, of the family of the house of Saul, and his name is Shimei, son of Gera, he cometh out, coming out and reviling; ⁶and he stoneth David with stones, and all the servants of king David, and all the people, and all the mighty men on his right and on his left. ⁷And thus said Shimei in his reviling, ‘Go out, go out, O man of blood, and man of worthlessness! ⁸Jehovah hath turned back on thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and Jehovah doth give the kingdom in to the hand of Absalom thy son; and lo, thou art in thine evil, for a man of blood thou art.’ ⁹And Abishai son of Zeruiah saith unto the king, ‘Why doth this dead dog revile my lord the king? let me pass over, I pray thee, and I turn aside his head.’ ¹⁰And the king saith, ‘What—to me and to you, O sons of Zeruiah? for—let him revile; even because Jehovah hath said to him, Revile David; and who saith, Wherefore hast Thou done so?’ ¹¹And David saith unto Abishai, and unto all his servants, ‘Lo, my son who came out of my bowels is seeking my life, and also surely now the Benjamite; leave him alone, and let him revile, for Jehovah hath said so to him; ¹²it may be Jehovah doth look on mine affliction, and Jehovah hath turned back to me good for his reviling this day.’ ¹³And David goeth with his men in the way, and Shimei is going at the side of the hill over-against him, going on, and he revileth, and stoneth with stones over-against him, and hath dusted with dust. ¹⁴And the king cometh in, and all the people who are with him, wearied, and they are refreshed there.

¹⁵And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, have come in to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him, ¹⁶and it cometh to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, hath come unto Absalom, that Hushai saith unto Absalom, ‘Let the king live! let the king live!’ ¹⁷And Absalom saith unto Hushai, ‘This thy kindness with thy friend! why hast thou not gone with thy friend?’ ¹⁸And Hushai saith unto Absalom, ‘Nay, for he whom Jehovah hath chosen, and this people, even all the men of Israel, his I am, and with him I abide; ¹⁹and secondly, for whom do I labour? is it not before his son? as I served before thy father so am I before thee.’ ²⁰And Absalom saith unto Ahithophel, ‘Give for you counsel what we do.’ ²¹And Ahithophel saith unto Absalom, ‘Go in unto the concubines of thy father, whom he left to keep the house, and all Israel hath heard that thou hast been abhorred by thy father, and the hands of all who are with thee have been strong.’ ²²And they spread out for Absalom the tent on the roof, and Absalom goeth in unto the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel. ²³And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days is as when one inquireth at the word of God; so is all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom.

Chapter 17

¹And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, ‘Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night, ²and come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who are with him, and I have smitten the king by himself, ³and I bring back all the people unto thee—as the turning back of the whole is the man whom thou art seeking—all the people are peace. ⁴And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel. ⁵And Absalom saith, ‘Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what is in his mouth—even he.’ ⁶And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, ‘According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou—speak thou.’ ⁷And Hushai saith unto Absalom, ‘Not good is the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.’ ⁸And Hushai saith, ‘Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they are heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father is a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people; ⁹lo, now, he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places, and it hath been, at the falling among them at the commencement, that the hearer hath heard, and said, There hath been a slaughter among the people who are after Absalom; ¹⁰and he also, the son of valour, whose heart is as the heart of the lion, doth utterly melt, for all Israel doth know that thy father is a hero, and sons of valour are those with him.

¹¹‘So that I have counselled: Let all Israel be diligently gathered unto thee, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and thou thyself art going in the midst; ¹²and we have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we are upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who are with him even one. ¹³And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found there even a stone.’ ¹⁴And Absalom saith—and all the men of Israel—‘Better is the counsel of Hushai the Archite than the counsel of Ahithophel;’ and Jehovah willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Jehovah’s bringing unto Absalom the evil.

¹⁵And Hushai saith unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, ‘Thus and thus hath Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I have counselled; ¹⁶and now, send hastily, and declare to David, saying, Lodge not to-night in the plains of the wilderness, and also, certainly pass over, lest there be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are with him.’ ¹⁷And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them—and they go and have declared it to king David—for they are not able to be seen to go in to the city. ¹⁸And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there, ¹⁹and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known. ²⁰And the servants of Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, ‘Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?’ and the woman saith to them, ‘They passed over the brook of water;’ and they seek, and have not found, and turn back to Jerusalem. ²¹And it cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, ‘Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.’

²²And David riseth, and all the people who are with him, and they pass over the Jordan, till the light of the morning, till one hath not been lacking who hath not passed over the Jordan. ²³And Ahithophel hath seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddleth the ass, and riseth and goeth unto his house, unto his city, and giveth charge unto his household, and strangleth himself, and dieth, and he is buried in the burying-place of his father. ²⁴And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him; ²⁵and Amasa hath Absalom set instead of Joab over the host, and Amasa is a man’s son whose name is Ithra the Israelite who hath gone in unto Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab; ²⁶and Israel encampeth with Absalom in the land of Gilead. ²⁷And it cometh to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim, ²⁸couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted corn, and beans, and lentiles, and roasted pulse, ²⁹and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, have brought nigh for David, and for the people who are with him to eat, for they said, ‘Thy people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.’

Chapter 18