2 Samuel 17

17 ¹ Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. ² I will fall upon him while he is weary and his strength is gone, 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. The death of the one man you seek means the return of everyone, and all the people will be at peace."

⁴ This plan seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

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

⁶ When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, "This is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we do as he says? If not, you tell us."

⁷ Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel Ahithophel has given is not good this time." ⁸ Hushai went on, "You know your father and his men—they are warriors, and they are as fierce as a bear robbed of her cubs in the open field. Your father is a seasoned warrior; he will not spend the night with the troops. ⁹ Even now he is surely hidden in one of the pits or somewhere else. If some of your men fall at the first attack, whoever hears of it will say, 'Absalom's men have been slaughtered!' ¹⁰ Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those with him are brave.

¹¹ So here is my counsel: let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, be gathered to you, as numerous as the sand by the sea, and go yourself into battle. ¹² Then we will come upon him wherever he is found, and we will settle on him as the dew settles on the ground; neither he nor any of the men with him will be left alive. ¹³ And if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down into the valley until not even a pebble of it can be found."

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For our Father had determined to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that our Father might bring disaster upon Absalom.

Hushai's Warning Reaches David in Time

¹⁵ Then Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "This is the counsel Ahithophel gave to Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I counseled. ¹⁶ Now send word quickly and tell David, 'Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.'"

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel, and a servant girl would go and bring them word, 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 hurried away and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹ The man's wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well and scattered grain on it, so that nothing was noticed.

²⁰ When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They have crossed over the brook." The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the two climbed up out of the well and went and reported to King David. They said to him, "Get up and cross the water quickly, for this is what Ahithophel has plotted against you."

²² So 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.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his home in his own town. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father's tomb.

²⁴ David came to Mahanaim, while Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel beside him. 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 married Abigail the daughter of Nahash and 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, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim ²⁸ brought beds, basins, and pottery, along with 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, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness."