2 Samuel 17

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

1Ahithophel gave advice to Absalom. He said, "Let me pick twelve thousand men. I will go after David tonight."

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:

2"I will attack him while he is tired and weak. I will scare him. All his people will run away. I will kill only the king."

3And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

3"Then I will bring all the people back to you. You want only one man. After that, everyone else can live in peace."

4And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

4Absalom liked this plan very much. So did all the leaders of Israel.

5Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.

5Then Absalom said, "Call Hushai the Archite too. Let us hear what he says as well."

6And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.

6Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom told him what Ahithophel had said. He asked, "Should we do it? If not, tell us your plan."

7And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

7Hushai said, "This time Ahithophel's advice is not good."

8For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, 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.

8Hushai said, "You know your father and his men. They are strong fighters. Right now they are angry, like a mother bear whose cubs were stolen. Your father knows war. He will not sleep in camp with the soldiers."

9Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

9"By now he is hiding in a pit or some other place. If some of your men are killed first, people will hear about it. They will say, "Absalom's soldiers are being killed."

10And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

10"Then even the bravest soldier will lose all his courage. All Israel knows your father is a strong fighter. They know his men are brave too."

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.

11"So here is my advice. Gather all Israel to you, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. Let there be as many men as sand on the beach. And lead them into battle yourself."

12So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

12"Then we will find David wherever he is. We will cover him like dew covers the ground. Not one of his men will be left alive."

13Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

13"If he hides inside a city, all Israel will bring ropes. We will pull that city down into the valley. Not one small stone will be left."

NoteThe KJV says they would pull the city "into the river." The word means a valley or a dry streambed. It is a way of saying the city would be torn down completely.

14And 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 appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

14Absalom and all the men of Israel said Hushai's advice was better. But the LORD had already decided to stop Ahithophel's good advice. God was bringing trouble on Absalom.

15Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.

15Then Hushai went to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. Priests were men who served God for the people. He told them both plans, Ahithophel's and his own.

16Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

16"Send word to David quickly. Tell him not to stay tonight by the river crossings in the desert. Tell him to cross over at once. If he waits, he and all his people may be destroyed."

17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.

17Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at a spring called En-rogel. They could not let anyone see them go into the city. A servant girl brought them the news. Then they carried it to King David.

NoteThe KJV calls the servant girl a "wench." In 1611 that just meant a young woman or a servant girl. It was not an insult.

18Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.

18But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two left fast. They came to a house in Bahurim. The man there had a well in his yard. They climbed down into it.

19And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

19The man's wife spread a cover over the mouth of the well. She scattered grain on top of the cover. Nobody could tell anything was hidden there.

20And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

20Absalom's servants came to the woman and asked where Ahimaaz and Jonathan were. She said, "They went over the brook." The men looked but could not find them. So they went back to Jerusalem.

21And it came to pass, after they were 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 hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

21After the men left, the two climbed out of the well. They hurried to King David. They said, "Get up and cross the river right now. This is the plan Ahithophel made against you."

22Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

22So David and all his people got up. They crossed the Jordan River. By morning light, every single one of them had crossed.

23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him 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.

23Ahithophel saw that no one used his advice. He put a saddle on his donkey and rode home to his own town. He got his house in order. Then he hanged himself and died. He was buried in his father's grave.

24Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

24Then David came to a town called Mahanaim. Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

25And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man’s son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab’s mother.

25Absalom put Amasa in charge of the army instead of Joab. Amasa's father was a man named Ithra. His mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash. Abigail's sister Zeruiah was Joab's mother.

26So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

26Israel and Absalom set up their camp in the land of Gilead.

27And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

27When David came to Mahanaim, three men came to him. They were Shobi son of Nahash, from Rabbah in the land of Ammon; Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar; and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim.

28Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

28They brought beds, bowls, and clay pots. They also brought wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, and lentils.

Note"Parched" means roasted over a fire. "Corn" in the KJV means grain of any kind, like wheat or barley, not corn on the cob. "Pulse" means beans and peas.

29And 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.

29They brought honey, thick milk, sheep, and cheese made from cows' milk. All of it was food for David and his people. They said, "These people are hungry, tired, and thirsty out in the desert."