¹² Absalom also sent to Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, an invitation to come from his town, Giloh, for the sacrifices he was about to offer. So the conspiracy gained strength, and the people with Absalom increased in numbers.^(A)

David and Hushai. ³² When David reached the top, where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him, with garments torn and dirt upon his head.^{(A) 33} David said to him: “If you come with me, you will be a burden to me; ³⁴ but if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Let me be your servant, O king; I was formerly your father’s servant, but now I will be yours,’ you will thwart for me the counsel of Ahithophel.^{(B) 35} You will have the priests Zadok and Abiathar there with you. If you hear anything from the king’s house, you shall report it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, ³⁶ who have there with them their two sons, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Through them you shall send on to me whatever you hear.” ³⁷ So David’s friend Hushai went into the city, Jerusalem, as Absalom was about to enter it.

¹⁶ When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, he said to him: “Long live the king! Long live the king!”^{(A) 17} But Absalom asked Hushai: “Is this your devotion to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ Hushai replied to Absalom: “On the contrary, I am his whom the Lord and all this people and all Israel have chosen, and with him I will stay. ¹⁹ Furthermore, as I was in attendance upon your father, so will I be before you. Whom should I serve, if not his son?”^(B)

Counsel of Ahithophel. ²³ Now the counsel given by Ahithophel at that time was as though one sought the word of God. Such was all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom.^(A)

Counsel of Hushai. ⁵ Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also; let us hear what he too has to say.” ⁶ When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him: “This is Ahithophel’s plan. Shall we follow his plan? If not, give your own.” ⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “This time Ahithophel has not given good counsel.” ⁸ And he went on to say: “You know that your father and his men are warriors, and that they are as fierce as a bear in the wild robbed of her cubs. Moreover, since your father is a skilled fighter, he will not spend the night with the army.^{(A) 9} Even now he lies hidden in one of the caves or in one of his other places. And if some of our soldiers should fall at the first attack, whoever hears of it will say, ‘Absalom’s followers have been slaughtered.’ ¹⁰ Then even the brave man with the heart of a lion—his heart will melt. For all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and those who are with him are brave. ¹¹ This is what I counsel: Let all Israel be assembled, from Dan to Beer-sheba, as numerous as the sands by the sea, and you yourself go with them. ¹² We can then attack him wherever we find him, settling down upon him as dew alights on the ground. None shall survive—neither he nor any of his followers. ¹³ And if he retires into a city, all Israel shall bring ropes to that city and we can drag it into the gorge, so that not even a pebble of it can be found.” ¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the Israelites said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had commanded that Ahithophel’s good counsel should be thwarted, so that he might bring Absalom to ruin.^(B)

David Told of the Plan. ¹⁵ Then Hushai said to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “This is the counsel Ahithophel gave Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I counseled. ¹⁶ So send a warning to David immediately: ‘Do not spend the night at the fords near the wilderness, but cross over without fail. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be destroyed.’”

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not acted upon, he saddled his donkey and departed, going to his home in his own city. Then, having left orders concerning his household, he hanged himself. And so he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.^(A)