2 Samuel 17
Ahithophel advised Absalom to pursue David with 12,000 men and strike him down while he was weary. However, Hushai countered with a different plan, suggesting that Absalom gather all of Israel and attack David with a larger force, covering him like dew on the ground. Absalom and the men of Israel preferred Hushai's counsel, which was part of God's plan to lead evil over Absalom. Hushai then secretly informed David of Ahithophel's plan, warning him to cross the Jordan River quickly, which David did. Ahithophel, realizing his counsel had not been followed, took his own life.
1Then Ahithophel said to Absalom: "I will choose for myself twelve thousand men, and rising up, I will pursue David this night2And rushing against him, for he is weary and has weakened hands, I will strike him. And when all the people who are with him will have fled, I will strike down the king in isolation3And I will lead back the entire people, returning in the manner of one man. For you are seeking only one man. And all the people shall be in peace.4And this word pleased Absalom and all those greater by birth of Israel5But Absalom said, "Summon Hushai the Archite, and let us hear what he also may say.6And when Hushai had gone to Absalom, Absalom said to him: "Ahithophel has spoken a word in this manner. Should we do it or not? What counsel do you give?7And Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given at this time is not good.8And again Hushai declared, "You know your father, and the men who are with him, to be very strong and bitter in soul, comparable to a bear raging in the forest when her young have been taken away. Moreover, your father is a man of war, and so he will not live among the people9Perhaps now he hides in pits, or in another place, wherever he wills. And if by chance, in the beginning, anyone may fall, whoever hears about it, no matter what he has heard, will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who were following Absalom.10And even the very strong, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will be weakened out of fear. For all the people of Israel know your father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are robust11But this seems to me to be the right counsel: Let all of Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand of the sea which is innumerable. And you will be in their midst12And we shall rush against him in whatever place he will have been found. And we shall cover him, as the dew usually falls upon the ground. And we shall not leave behind even one of the men who are with him13And if he will enter into any city, all of Israel shall encircle that city with ropes. And we will pull it into the torrent, so that there may not be found even one small stone from it.14And Absalom, with all the men of Israel, said: "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." So, by an act of the Lord, the useful counsel of Ahithophel was defeated, in order that the Lord might lead evil over Absalom15And Hushai said to the priests, Zadok and Abiathar: "Ahithophel gave counsel to Absalom and to the elders of Israel in this and that manner. And I gave counsel in such and such a manner16Now therefore, send quickly, and report to David, saying: ‘You shall not stay this night in the plains of the desert. Instead, without delay, go across. Otherwise the king may be engulfed, and all the people who are with him.’ 17But Jonathan and Ahimaaz remained beside the Fountain of Rogel. And a handmaid went away and reported it to them. And they set out, so that they might carry the report to king David. For they could not be seen, nor enter into the city18But a certain young man saw them, and he revealed it to Absalom. Yet truly, they traveled quickly and entered into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they descended into it19Then a woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as if drying hulled barley. And so the matter was hidden20And when the servants of Absalom had entered into the house, they said to the woman, "Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And the woman responded to them, "They passed through hurriedly, after they had taken a little water." But those who were seeking them, when they had not found them, returned to Jerusalem21And when they had gone, they ascended from the well. And traveling, they reported to king David, and they said: "Rise up, and go across the river quickly. For Ahithophel has given a counsel of this kind against you.22Therefore, David rose up, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan, until first light. And not even one of them was left behind who had not crossed over the river23Then Ahithophel, seeing that his counsel had not been done, saddled his donkey, and he rose up and went away to his own house and to his own city. And putting his house in order, he killed himself by hanging. And he was buried in the sepulcher of his father24Then David went to the encampment, and Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him25Truly, Absalom appointed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. Now Amasa was the son of a man who was called Ithra of Jezrael, who entered to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, who was the mother of Joab26And Israel made camp with Absalom in the land of Gilead27And when David had arrived at the encampment, Shobi, the son of Nahash, from Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai, the Gileadite of Rogelim28brought to him bedding, and tapestries, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and cooked grain, and beans, and lentils, and fried chick peas29and honey, and butter, sheep and fattened calves. And they gave these to David and to the people who were with him to eat. For they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the desert
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