2 Samuel 17

Ahithophel Advises Immediate Pursuit

1Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and I will terrify him. All the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. 3Then I will bring all the people back to you. The return of all depends on the man you seek; then all the people will be at peace.” 4The word was right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

Hushai Counters Ahithophel’s Counsel

5Then Absalom said, “Please call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what is in his mouth.” 6Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom spoke to him, saying, “According to this word Ahithophel has spoken. Will we do his word? If not, you speak.” 7Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has counseled this time is not good.” 8Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and bitter in spirit, like a bear bereaved in the field. Your father is a man of war and will not spend the night with the people. 9Look, now he is hidden in one of the pits or in one of the places. And it will happen when some of them fall at the beginning, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10Then even the valiant man whose heart is like the heart of a lion will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and people who are with him are valiant men.

Hushai Advises a Massive Army

11“But I counsel that all Israel be surely gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you yourself go into the battle. 12Then we will come upon him in one of the places where he may be found, and we will fall upon him as dew falls upon the ground. Of him and all the men who are with him, not even one will remain. 13If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will carry ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is found there.”

The LORD Frustrates Ahithophel’s Good Counsel

14Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.”

For the LORD had commanded the frustrating of the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

Hushai Sends Word to David

15Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and thus Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I counseled. 16And now send quickly and tell David, saying, ‘Do not spend this night at the fords of the wilderness, but surely cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’”

Jonathan and Ahimaaz Hide in a Well

17Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-Rogel, and a female servant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they were not able to be seen entering the city. 18But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them went quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it. 19The woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well and scattered grain upon it, and the matter was not known. 20Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They crossed over the stream of water.” They searched but did not find them, and they returned to Jerusalem.

David Crosses the Jordan

21After they had gone, they came up from the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Rise and cross the water quickly, for thus Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By morning light there was not one who had not crossed the Jordan.

Ahithophel Dies

23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel had not been done, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went to his house, to his own city. He put his house in order and hanged himself. He died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

Absalom Crosses the Jordan

24Then David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25Absalom set Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

Friends Supply David’s Camp

27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the children of Ammon, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, roasted seeds, 29honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from cattle for David and for the people who were with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”