1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue after David
⌊tonight
⌋.
*
2 I will come upon him while he
is weary and
⌊weak
⌋.
* I will startle him, and all of the people who
are with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king
while he
is alone.
3 Then I will return all the people to you; when all have returned, the man whom you
are seeking
will be dead,
* but all the people will be safe."
4 The word
was right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
5 Then Absalom said, "Please call also for Hushai the Arkite, and let us hear
⌊what he has to say
⌋* also."
6 So Hushai came to Absalom, who said to him, "Shall we do according to this word
that Ahithophel has spoken? If not, then you tell
us."
7 Then Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel gave
is not good
⌊at this time
⌋."
*
8 Hushai continued, "You know your father and his men, that they
are mighty warriors and they
⌊are enraged
⌋* as a bear robbed of
her offspring in the field. Your father
is a man of war, so he will not spend the night with the troops.
9 Now he has hidden himself in one of the caves or in one of the places. At the moment he falls on them
* the first time,
⌊whoever hears
⌋* the report will say, 'There has been a defeat among the people who follow after Absalom.'
10 And he
is also a
⌊valiant warrior
⌋,
* whose heart
is like the heart of the lion. He
* will
⌊certainly melt
⌋* with fear, for all Israel knows that your father
is a mighty warrior and
those who
are with him
are ⌊valiant warriors
⌋.
*
11 I give the advice that all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba should be completely gathered to you, as the sand which
is on the seashore for abundance, with
⌊you personally
⌋* going into the battle.
12 Then we will come to him in one of the places where he may be found, and we shall come upon him as the dew falls on the ground. He and all the men who are with him will not survive,
not even one!
13 Even if he withdraws to a city, all Israel will bring up ropes to that city, and they will drag him away to the valley until there
is not even a pebble to be found."
14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite
is better than the advice of Ahithophel." (Now Yahweh had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel in order for Yahweh to bring misery upon Absalom).
15 Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "
⌊Thus and so
⌋* Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, but
⌊thus and so
⌋* I have advised.
16 So then, send quickly and tell David, 'Don't spend the night at the fords of the wilderness! Moreover, by all means cross over lest the king and all the people who
are with him be swallowed up.'"
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz
were staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they
were not able to be seen coming to the city.
18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim. Now he had a well in his courtyard, so they went down there.
19 Then the woman took and spread a covering over the opening of the well; then she spread out dried grain on it, so nothing was discovered.
20 When the servants of Absalom came to the woman
at the house, they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And she said to them, "They crossed over the brook of water." So they searched but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After they left, they came up from the well and went and told King David. They said to David, "Set out and cross over the water quickly, for thus Ahithophel has advised against you."