2 Samuel 17
17
Ahithophel’s Advice About David
1Ahithophel also said to Absalom, “Now, let me choose 12,000 men to chase David tonight. 2I will catch him while he is tired and weak. I will frighten him, and all his people will run away. But I will kill only King David. 3Then I will bring all the people back to you. If David is dead, all the people will come back in peace.”
4This plan seemed good to Absalom and all the leaders of Israel. 5But Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Arkite. I also want to hear what he says.”
Hushai Ruins Ahithophel’s Advice
6Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to Hushai, “This is the plan Ahithophel gave. Should we follow it? If not, tell us.”
7Hushai said to Absalom, “Ahithophel’s advice is not good this time.” 8Hushai added, “You know that your father and his men are strong men. They are as dangerous as a wild bear when something has taken its cubs. Your father is a skilled fighter. He will not stay all night with the people. 9He is probably already hiding in a cave or some other place. If your father attacks your men first, people will hear the news and think, ‘Absalom’s followers are losing!’ 10Then even your bravest men will be frightened, because all the Israelites know that your father is a powerful soldier and that his men are very brave.
11“This is what I suggest: You must gather all the Israelites together from Dan to Beersheba.#17:11 Dan to Beersheba This means the whole nation of Israel, north and south. Dan was a town in the northern part of Israel, and Beersheba was in the southern part of Judah. Then there will be many people, like the sand by the sea. Then you yourself must go into the battle. 12We will catch David wherever he is hiding and attack him with so many soldiers that they will be like the dew that covers the ground. We will kill David and all of his men—no one will be left alive. 13But if David escapes into a city, all the Israelites can bring ropes to that city and pull its walls down into the valley. Not even a small stone will be left in that city.”
14Absalom and all the Israelites said, “Hushai’s advice is better than Ahithophel’s.” Actually, Ahithophel’s advice was good, but they said this because the Lord had decided to make Ahithophel’s advice useless. He did this to punish Absalom.
Hushai Sends a Warning to David
15Hushai told the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, what was said. He told them what Ahithophel suggested to Absalom and the leaders of Israel. Hushai also told them what he himself had suggested. He said, 16“Send a message to David now! Tell him not to spend the night at the places where people cross into the desert. Tell him to go across the Jordan River at once. If he crosses the river, the king and all his people will not be caught.”
17The priests’ sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, did not want to be seen going into the town, so they waited at En Rogel. A servant girl went out to them and gave them the message. Then Jonathan and Ahimaaz carried the message to King David.
18But a boy saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and ran to tell Absalom. Jonathan and Ahimaaz ran away quickly. They arrived at a man’s house in Bahurim. The man had a well in his courtyard.#17:18 courtyard An open area outside the house. Many houses were built around courtyards so that people could work, cook, or eat outside. Jonathan and Ahimaaz went down into this well. 19The man’s wife spread a sheet over the mouth of the well and covered it with grain. The well looked like a pile of grain, so no one would know to look there. 20Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house. They asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”
The woman said to Absalom’s servants, “They have already crossed over the brook.”
Absalom’s servants then went to look for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but they could not find them. So Absalom’s servants went back to Jerusalem.
21After Absalom’s servants left, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well and went to King David. They said to David, “Hurry, go across the river. Ahithophel is planning to do something to you.”
22So David and his people crossed over the Jordan River. By sunrise, all of David’s people had crossed the Jordan River. No one was left behind.
Ahithophel Kills Himself
23When Ahithophel saw that the Israelites did not do what he suggested, he saddled his donkey and went back to his hometown. He made plans for his family and then hanged himself. They buried him in his father’s tomb.
Absalom Crosses the Jordan River
24David arrived at Mahanaim just as Absalom and the Israelites who were with him crossed over the Jordan River. 25-26Absalom and the Israelites made their camp in the land of Gilead. Absalom had made Amasa the new captain of the army. He took Joab’s place.#17:25-26 He took Joab’s place Joab still supported David. Joab was one of the three captains in David’s army when David was running away from Absalom. See 2 Sam. 18:2. Amasa was the son of Ithra the Ishmaelite.#17:25-26 Ishmaelite This is from the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “Israelite,” but see 1 Chron. 2:17. His mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Joab’s mother, Zeruiah.#17:25-26 His mother … Zeruiah Literally, “Ithra had sexual relations with Abigail, the daughter of Nahash sister of Zeruiah.”
Shobi, Makir, and Barzillai
27When David arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi, Makir, and Barzillai were there. Shobi son of Nahash was from the Ammonite town of Rabbah. Makir son of Ammiel was from Lo Debar. Barzillai was from Rogelim in Gilead. 28-29These three men said, “The people are tired, hungry, and thirsty from the desert.” So they brought many things to David and those with him. They brought beds, bowls, and other kinds of dishes. They also brought wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, dried seeds, honey, butter, sheep, and cheese made from cow’s milk.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
2 Samuel 17
17
2 Samuel 17
1¶ Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night,
2and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed and will make him afraid, and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only.
3Thus will I turn all the people back unto thee, and when they have returned (for that man is whom thou dost seek), all the people shall be in peace.
4And this word seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and of all the elders of Israel.
5Then Absalom said, Now call Hushai, the Archite, also, and let us likewise hear what he says.
6And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Thus spoke Ahithophel; shall we follow his word or not? Speak thou.
7Then Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.
8For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and now their souls are bitter, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.
9Behold, he is hid now in some pit or in some other place, and if some of thy men are overthrown at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
10Thus even the valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.
11Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
12Then we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him, there shall not be left so much as one.
13Moreover, if he goes into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until not even one small stone is found there.
14Then 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 given orders to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.
15¶ Then Hushai said unto Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counselled.
16Now, therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass the Jordan; lest the king be swallowed up and all the people that are with him.
17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel, for they could not be seen coming into the city; and a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.
18Nevertheless, a young man saw them and told Absalom, but both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.
19And the woman of the house took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground wheat upon it, and the thing was not known.
20And when Absalom’s slaves came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21And it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told King David and said unto David, Arise and pass quickly over the water, for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.
22¶ Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan before the morning light; there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan.
23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose, and went home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
24Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.
25And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab; this Amasa was the son of a man of Israel named Ithra, who had gone in to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.
26So Israel pitched camp with Absalom in the land of Gilead.
27And it came to pass, when David arrived at Mahanaim, that Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lodebar; and Barzillai, the Gileadite of Rogelim,
28brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched wheat and beans and lentils and parched grain
29and honey and butter and sheep and cheese of cows for David and for the people that were with him, to eat, for they said, These people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International