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said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out tonight in pursuit of David. 2 I will attack him while he is weary and disheartened, and throw him into a panic. Then all the people with him will flee. I will strike down only the king, 3 and bring all the people back to you. Everyone will return except the man whom you seek, and all the people will be at peace.” 4 This plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
5 But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai the Archite. Let us hear what he has to say.” 6 When Hushai went before Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has given this advise. Should we do what he advises? If not, what do you say?”
7 Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advise Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.” 8 Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors, and they are as desperate as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides your father is an experienced soldier, and he will not spend the night with the troops. 9 Even now he has hidden himself in a cave or some other place. If some of our troops are overthrown in the first attack, whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom’. 10 Then even the bravest man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a brave warrior, and that those with him are valiant men.
11 “So I advise that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beer-sheba; for they are as numerous as the sand by the sea, and that you personally go with them into battle. 12 Then we will attack David wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him like dew falls on the ground. Then not even one of the men with him will be left. 13 And if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble can be found there.”
14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advise of Hushai the Archite is better than the advise of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined that the good advise of Ahithophel be undermined, in order that the Lord might bring disaster upon Absalom.
15 Then Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I advised. 16 Now send a message immediately and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness. Instead, cross over straight away, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up’.”
17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a servant girl would come and pass alonh information to them. Then they in turn would go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen coming into the city. 18 But a boy did see them and informed Absalom. So the two of them left quickly and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. 19 Then the man’s wife took a covering, spread it out over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything about it.
20 When Absalom’s men came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”
The woman answered them, “They have crossed over the brook.” The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathon climbed out of the well and went and informed King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river immediately, for Ahithophel has given this advise against you.” 22 So David and all the people set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
23 When Ahithophel saw that his advise had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order, then he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
24 David had arrived at Mahanaiam by the time Absalom and the men of Israel had crossed the Jordan 25 Absalom had appointed Amasa commander of the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite. Ithra had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah. 26 And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought bedding, basins, and pottery items. They also brought wheat, barley, roasted grain, beans, lentils, parched grain, 29 honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. For they said, “The people must be hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”