Chapter 17

¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom: “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set forth in pursuit of David this very night. ² I plan to overtake him when he is weary and discouraged and to throw him into a panic. Then, when all the people who are with him flee, I will strike down only the king. ³ After that, I will bring all the people back to you, like a bride returning to her husband. You are seeking the death of only one man. The rest of the people will be unharmed.” ⁴ Absalom and all the elders of Israel found this plan to be satisfactory.

Counsel of Hushai. ⁵ Then Absalom said: “Now also summon Hushai the Archite, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him: “This is what Ahithophel suggested. Shall we do as he advises? If not, give us your ideas in this regard.”

⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom: “On this particular occasion Ahithophel has not offered good advice.” ⁸ Then he went on to say: “You well know that your father and his men are warriors and that they are as fierce as a bear in the wilderness who has been robbed of her cubs. In addition, your father is unsurpassed in devising strategy, and he will not spend the night with the troops.

⁹ “You can be certain that even now he has concealed himself in a cave or some other place. And if some of our troops should be slain during the first attack, the word will quickly spread that the followers of Absalom have been slaughtered. ¹⁰ Then even the most valiant of our warriors, with courage like that of a lion, will shrink away in fear. For all Israel well knows that your father is a warrior and that those who serve with him are brave.

¹¹ “This is the advice that I offer to you. Summon all Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, to be gathered in support of you, and be at their side as they march into battle. ¹² When we catch up with him, wherever he may be found, we shall then attack him and descend upon him as the dew falls upon the ground. He will not survive, nor will any of those with him. ¹³ And if he should withdraw into a town, all Israel shall bring ropes into that town, and we shall drag it down into a gorge so that not even a single remnant of it can be found there.”

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the Israelites declared: “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is superior to that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined to frustrate the shrewd advice of Ahithophel and thereby bring disaster on Absalom.

¹⁵ David Told of the Plan. Then Hushai said to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “This is the counsel that Ahithophel gave to Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I advised. 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.

¹⁹ The man’s wife then took a covering, stretched it out over the cistern, and strewed crushed grain on it so that nothing would be noticed. ²⁰ When the servants of Absalom came to the woman at the house, they asked: “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied: “They went by here a short while ago and went toward the water.” They continued their pursuit, but when they found no sight of them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had departed, the two men climbed out of the cistern and went to warn King David. “Leave immediately and cross the water quickly,” they said, as they related to him how Ahithophel had decided to proceed against him. ²² Therefore, David and all of the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By dawn there was not a single one left who had not crossed to the opposite bank of the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and departed straight home to his own town. Then, having left detailed instructions to ensure the well-being of his family, he hanged himself. He died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴ By the time that Absalom had crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel, David had already reached Mahanaim. ²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa to be commander of the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man called Ithra the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah. ²⁶ The Israelites and Absalom encamped in the territory of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, he was greeted by Shobi, the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir, the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim. ²⁸ They brought bedding, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, ²⁹ honey and curds, and cheese from the flocks and herds for David and the people with him to eat, as they said: “Your troops must have been hungry and thirsty and exhausted in the desert.”