Dual Panel1Ahithophel <0302> said <0559> to <0413> Absalom <053>, “Let me pick out <0977> twelve <06240> <08147> thousand <0505> men <0376>. Then I will go <06965> and pursue <07291> David <01732> this very night <03915>.
2When I catch up <0935> with <05921> him he <01931> will be exhausted <03023> and worn out <07504>. I will rout <02729> him, and the entire <03605> army <05971> that <0834> is with <0854> him will flee <05127>. I will kill <05221> only <0905> the king <04428>
3and will bring <07725> the entire <03605> army <05971> back <07725> to <0413> you. In exchange for the life of the man <0376> you <0859> are seeking <01245>, you will get back <07725> everyone <03605>. The entire <03605> army <05971> will return <01961> unharmed <07965>.”
4This seemed <05869> <03474> like a good <05869> <03474> idea <01697> to Absalom <053> and to all <03605> the leaders <02205> of Israel <03478>.
5But Absalom <053> said <0559>, “Call <07121> for Hushai <02365> the Arkite <0757>, and let’s hear <08085> what <04100> he <01931> has to say <06310>.”
6So Hushai <02365> came <0935> to <0413> Absalom <053>. Absalom <053> said <0559> <0559> to <0413> him, “Here <02088> is what <01697> Ahithophel <0302> has advised <01696>. Should we follow <06213> his advice <01697>? If <0518> not <0369>, what would you <0859> recommend <01696>?”
7Hushai <02365> replied <0559> to <0413> Absalom <053>, “Ahithophel’s <0302> advice <06098> is not <03808> sound this <02063> time <06471>.”
8Hushai <02365> went on to say <0559>, “You <0859> know <03045> your father <01> and his men <0376>– they <01992> are soldiers <01368> and are as dangerous <05315> <04751> as a bear <01677> out in the wild <07704> that has been robbed of her cubs <07909>. Your father <01> is an experienced soldier <04421> <0376>; he will not <03808> stay overnight <03885> with <0854> the army <05971>.
9At this <06258> very moment <06258> he <01931> is hiding <02244> out in one <0259> of the caves <06354> or <0176> in some other <0259> similar place <04725>. If it <01961> should turn out that he attacks <05307> our troops first <08462>, whoever hears <08085> <08085> about it will say <0559>, ‘Absalom’s <053> army <05971> has been slaughtered <04046>!’
10If that <01931> happens even <01571> the bravest soldier <02428>– soldier <01121>– one who <0834> is lion-hearted <0738> <03820>– will virtually <04549> melt away <04549>. For <03588> all <03605> Israel <03478> knows <03045> that <03588> your father <01> is a warrior <01368> and that those who <0834> are with <0854> him are brave <02428>.
11My advice <03289> therefore <03588> is this: Let all <03605> Israel <03478> from <05704> Dan <01835> to <05704> Beer Sheba <0884>– in number <07230> like <0834> the sand <02344> by <05921> the sea <03220>!– be mustered <0622> to <05921> you, and you lead <01980> them personally <06440> into battle <07128>.
12We will come <0935> against <0413> him wherever <0834> he happens to be found <04672>. We will descend <05117> on <05921> him like the dew <02919> falls <05307> on <05921> the ground <0127>. Neither <03808> he nor any <03605> of the men <0582> who <0834> are with <0854> him will be spared alive <03498>– not one <0259> of them!
13If <0518> he regroups <0622> in <0413> a city <05892>, all <03605> Israel <03478> will take up <05375> ropes <02256> to <0413> that city <05892> and drag <05498> it down <05498> to <05704> the valley <05158>, so that <0834> not <03808> a single pebble <06872> will be left <04672> there <08033>!”
14Then Absalom <053> and all <03605> the men <0376> of Israel <03478> said <0559>, “The advice <06098> of Hushai <02365> the Arkite <0757> sounds better <02896> than the advice <06098> of Ahithophel <0302>.” Now the Lord <03068> had decided <06680> to frustrate <06565> the sound advice <06098> of Ahithophel <0302>, so that <05668> the Lord <03068> could bring <0935> disaster <07451> on <0413> Absalom <053>.
15Then Hushai <02365> reported <0559> to <0413> Zadok <06659> and Abiathar <054> the priests <03548>, “Here is what Ahithophel <0302> has advised <03289> Absalom <053> and the leaders <02205> of Israel <03478> to do, and here is what I <0589> have advised <03289>.
16Now <06258> send <07971> word quickly <04120> to David <01732> and warn <05046> him, “Don’t <0408> spend the night <03885> at the fords <06160> of the desert <04057> tonight <03915>. Instead <01571>, be sure <05674> <05674> you cross over <05674> <05674>, or else <06435> the king <04428> and everyone <05971> <03605> who <0834> is with <0854> him may be overwhelmed <01104>.”
17Now Jonathan <03083> and Ahimaaz <0290> were staying <05975> in En Rogel <05883>. A female servant <08198> would go <01980> and inform <05046> them, and they <01992> would then go <01980> and inform <05046> King <04428> David <01732>. It was not <03808> advisable <03201> for them to be seen <07200> going <0935> into the city <05892>.
18But a young man <05288> saw <07200> them on one occasion and informed <05046> Absalom <053>. So the two <08147> of them quickly <04120> departed <01980> and went <0935> to <0413> the house <01004> of a man <0376> in Bahurim <0980>. There was a well <0875> in his courtyard <02691>, and they got down <03381> in it <08033>.
19His wife <0802> then took <03947> the covering <04539> and spread <06566> it over <05921> the top <06440> of the well <0875> and scattered <07849> some grain <07383> over <05921> it. No one <01697> <03808> was aware of what she had done <03045>.
20When the servants <05650> of Absalom <053> approached <0935> the woman <0802> at her home <01004>, they asked <0559>, “Where <0346> are Ahimaaz <0290> and Jonathan <03083>?” The woman <0802> replied <0559> to them, “They crossed over <05674> the stream <04325>.” Absalom’s men searched <01245> but did not <03808> find <04672> them, so they returned <07725> to Jerusalem <03389>.
21After <0310> the men had <01961> left <01980>, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed <05927> out of the well <0875>. Then they left <01980> and informed <05046> King <04428> David <01732>. They advised <0559> David <01732>, “Get up <06965> and cross <05674> the stream <04325> quickly <04120>, for <03588> Ahithophel <0302> has devised a plan <03289> to catch <05921> you.”
22So David <01732> and all <03605> the people <05971> who <0834> were with <0854> him got up <06965> and crossed <05674> the Jordan River <03383>. By <05704> dawn <01242> <0216> there was not <03808> one <0259> person left <05737> who had <0834> not <03808> crossed <05674> the Jordan <03383>.
23When Ahithophel <0302> realized <07200> that <03588> his advice <06098> had not <03808> been followed <06213>, he saddled <02280> his donkey <02543> and returned <01980> to <0413> his house <01004> in <0413> his hometown <05892>. After setting <06680> his household <01004> in order <06680>, he hanged <02614> himself. So he died <04191> and was buried <06912> in the grave <06913> of his father <01>.
24Meanwhile David <01732> had gone <0935> to Mahanaim <04266>, while Absalom <053> and all <03605> the men <0376> of Israel <03478> had crossed <05674> the Jordan River <03383>.
25Absalom <053> had made <07760> Amasa <06021> general in command of the army <06635> in place of <08478> Joab <03097>. (Now Amasa <06021> was the son <01121> of an Israelite <03481> man <0376> named <08034> Jether <03501>, who had <0834> married <0413> <0935> Abigail <026> the daughter <01323> of Nahash <05176> and sister <0269> of Zeruiah <06870>, Joab’s <03097> mother <0517>.)
26The army of Israel <03478> and Absalom <053> camped <02583> in the land <0776> of Gilead <01568>.
27When <01961> David <01732> came <0935> to Mahanaim <04266>, Shobi <07629> the son <01121> of Nahash <05176> from Rabbah <07237> of the Ammonites <05983> <01121>, Makir <04353> the son <01121> of Ammiel <05988> from Lo Debar <03810>, and Barzillai <01271> the Gileadite <01569> from Rogelim <07274>
28brought bedding <04904>, basins <05592>, and pottery <03335> utensils <03627>. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat <02406>, barley <08184>, flour <07058>, roasted grain <07039>, beans <06321>, lentils <05742>,
29honey <01706>, curds <02529>, flocks <06629>, and cheese <08194>. For <03588> they said <0559>, “The people <05971> are no doubt hungry <07457>, tired <05889>, and thirsty <06771> there in the desert <04057>.”