2 Samuel Chapter 17

2 Samuel Chapter 17
1 Moreover Ahithophel said to
Absalom, Let me choose out now twelve
thousand men, and I will up and follow
after David this night,
2 And I will come upon him: for he is
weary, and weak handed: so I will fear
him, and all the people that are with him,
shall flee, and I will smite the king only,
And I will bring again all the people
unto thee, and when all shall return, (the
man whom thou seekest being slain) all
the people shall be in peace. 4 And the
saying pleased Absalom well, and all
the elders of Israel. 5 Then said
Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite
also, and let us hear likewise what he
saith.
6 So when Hushai came to Absalom,
Absalom spake unto him, saying,
Ahithophel hath spoken thus: shall we do
after his saying, or no? Tell thou. 7
Hushai then answered unto Absalom,
The counsel that Ahithophel hath given,
is not good at this time.
8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy
father, and his men, that they be strong
men, and are chafed in mind as a bear
robbed of her whelps in the field: also
thy father is a valiant warrior, and will
not lodge with the people. 9 Behold, he
is hid now in some cave, or in some
place: and though some of them be
overthrown at the first, yet the people
shall hear, and say, The people that
follow Absalom, be overthrown.
10 Then he also that is valiant whose
heart is as the heart of a lion, shall
shrink and faint: for all Israel knoweth,
that thy father is valiant, and they which
be with him, stout men.
11 Therefore my counsel is, that all
Israel be gathered unto thee, from Dan
even to Beer-sheba as the sand of the sea
in number, and that thou go to battle in
thine own person.
12 So shall we come upon him in some
place, where we shall find him, and we
will upon him as the dew falleth on the
ground: and of all the men that are with
him, we will not leave him one.
13 Moreover if he be gotten into a city,
then shall all the men of Israel bring
ropes to that city, and we will draw it
into the river, until there be not one
small stone found there.
14 Then Absalom and all the men of
Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the
Archite is better, than the counsel of
Ahithophel: for the Lord had determined
to destroy the good counsel of
Ahithophel, that the Lord might bring
evil upon Absalom.
15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to
Abiathar the priests, Of this and that
manner did Ahithophel and the elders of
Israel counsel Absalom: and thus and
thus have I counseled.
16 Now therefore send quickly, and
show David, saying, Tarry not this night
in the fields of the wilderness, but rather
get thee over, lest the king be devoured
and all the people that are with him.
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz abode by
En-rogel: (for they might not be seen to
come into the city) and a maid went, and
told them, and they went and showed
king David.
18 Nevertheless a young man saw them,
and told it to Absalom. therefore they
both departed quickly, and came to a
man's house in Bahurim, who had a well
in his court, into the which they went
down.
19 And the wife took and spread a
covering over the well's mouth, and
spread ground corn thereon, that the
thing should not be known.
20 And when Absalom's servants came
to the wife into the house, they said,
Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And
the woman answered them, They be gone
over the brook of water. And when they
had sought them, and could not find
them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21 And as soon as they were departed,
the other came out of the well, and went
and told king David, and said unto him,
Up, and get you quickly over the water:
for such counsel hath Ahithophel given
against you.
22 Then David arose, and all the people
that were with him, and they went over
Jordan until the dawning of the day, so
that there lacked not one of them, that
was not come over Jordan.
23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his
counsel was not followed, he saddled
his ass, and arose, and he went home
unto his city, and put his household in
order, and hanged himself, and died, and
was buried in his father's grave. 24 Then
David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom
passed over Jordan, he, and all the men
of Israel with him.
25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of
the host in the stead of Joab: which
Amasa was a man's son named Ithra an
Israelite, that went in to Abigail the
daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah
Joab's mother.
26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the
land of Gilead.
27 And when David was come to
Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash out
of Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
and Machir the son of Ammiel out of
Lodebar, and Barzelai the Gileadite out
of Rogel 28 Brought beds, and basins,
and earthen vessels, and wheat, and
barley, and flour, and parched corn, and
beans, and lentils, and parched corn. 29
And they brought honey, and butter, and
sheep, and cheese of kine for David and
for the people that were with him, to eat:
for they said, The people is hungry, and
weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.