2Samuel 17

Hushai’s Counsel

17Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Please let me choose 120000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight.H302H559H53H977H8147H6240H505H376H6965H7291H310H1732H39152"And I will come upon him while he is weary and exhausted and will terrify him so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king alone,H935H3023H7504H3027H2729H5971H5127H5221H44283and I will bring back all the people to you. The return of everyone depends on the man you seek; [then] all the people shall be at peace. "H7725H5971H376H1245H7725H5971H79654So the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.H1697H3474H53H5869H2205H34785Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say."H559H53H7121H2365H757H8085H63106When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has spoken thus. Shall we carry out his plan? If not, you speak."H2365H935H53H53H559H559H302H1696H1697H6213H1697H16967So Hushai said to Absalom, "This time the advice that Ahithophel has given is not good."H2365H559H53H6098H302H3289H2896H64718Moreover, Hushai said, "You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and they are fierce, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare, and will not spend the night with the people.H559H2365H3045H1H582H1368H4751H5315H1677H7909H7704H1H376H4421H3885H59719"Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the caves or in another place; and it will be when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears [it] will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'H2244H259H6354H259H4725H5307H8462H8085H8085H559H4046H5971H310H5310"And even the one who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely lose heart; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.H1121H2428H3820H3820H738H4549H4549H3478H3045H1H1368H2428H112111"But I counsel that all Israel be surely gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that you personally go into battle.H3289H3478H622H622H1835H884H2344H3220H7230H1980H7128H644012"So we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.H935H259H4725H4672H5168H2919H5307H127H582H3498H1571H25913"And if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the valley until not even a small stone is found there."H518H622H5892H3478H5375H2256H5892H5498H5158H1571H6872H467214Then 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 ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom.H53H376H3478H559H6098H2365H757H2896H6098H302H3068H6680H6565H2896H6098H302H5668H3068H935H7451H53

Hushai’s Warning Saves David

15Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have counseled.H559H2365H6659H54H3548H302H3289H53H2205H3478H328916"Now therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, 'Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be destroyed.'"H7971H4120H5046H1732H559H3885H3915H6160H5679H4057H5674H5674H4428H1104H597117Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a maidservant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not be seen entering the city.H3083H290H5975H5883H3201H7200H935H5892H8198H1980H5046H3212H5046H4428H173218But a lad did see them, and told Absalom; so the two of them departed quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.H5288H7200H5046H53H3212H8147H4120H935H376H1004H980H875H2691H8033H338119And the woman took a covering and spread it over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, so that nothing was known.H802H3947H6566H4539H875H6440H7849H7383H1697H304520Then Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said, " Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? "And the woman said to them," They have crossed the brook of water. "And when they searched and could not find [them,] they returned to Jerusalem.H53H5650H935H802H1004H559H290H3083H802H559H5674H4323H4325H1245H4672H7725H338921And it came about after they had departed that they came up out of the well and went and told King David; and they said to David, "Arise and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you."H310H3212H5927H875H3212H5046H4428H1732H559H1732H6965H4120H5674H4325H302H328922Then David and all the people who [were] with him arose and crossed the Jordan; and by dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan.H1732H6965H5971H5674H3383H1242H216H5737H259H5674H338323Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled [his] donkey and arose and went to his home, to his city, and set his house in order, and strangled himself; thus he died and was buried in the grave of his father.H302H7200H6098H6213H2280H2543H6965H3212H1004H5892H1004H6680H2614H4191H6912H6913H124Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.H1732H935H4266H53H5674H3383H376H347825And Absalom set Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.H53H7760H6021H6635H3097H6021H376H1121H8034H3501H3481H935H26H1323H5176H269H6870H3097H51726And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.H3478H53H2583H776H156827Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,H1732H935H4266H7629H1121H5176H7237H1121H5983H4353H1121H5988H3810H1271H1569H727428brought beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, parched [grain,] beans, lentils, parched [seeds,]H5066H4904H5592H3335H3627H2406H8184H7058H7039H6321H5742H703929honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who [were] with him, to eat; for they said, "The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness."H1706H2529H6629H8194H1241H1732H5971H398H559H5971H7457H5889H6771H4057