¹⁶ Therefore, send a warning to David without delay and tell him: ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the desert, but cross over as quickly as you can. Otherwise the king and all the people with him may be annihilated.’ ”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel. A servant girl used to go there and report to them what was happening, and then they would go and inform King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. ¹⁸ However, a young lad saw them and informed Absalom. Therefore, the two of them ran off quickly and went to the house of a man in Horonaim. He had a cistern in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.