2 Samuel, 17

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

1. Ahitophel said to Absalom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men that I may set out and pursue David tonight.

2. And 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 discouraged and throw him into a panic. All those who are with him will flee so I will strike down only the king.

3. And 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 as a bride comes home to her husband. Seek the death of only one man and then all the people will be unharmed."

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

4. The advice pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

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

5. Then Absalom said, "Call in Hushai the Archite to hear what he has to say."

6. And 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.

6. When Hushai came before Absalom, Absalom asked him, "Ahitophel has given this advice. Shall we follow it? If not, you speak."

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

7. So Hushai said to Absalom, "This time, Ahitophel's advice is not good.

8. For, 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.

8. You know that your father and his men are warriors. When enraged, they are like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert enough in war not to spend the night with his men.

9. Behold, 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. Right now he is hiding in one of the pits or in some other place. If some of your men fall in the first attack, whoever hears of it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the men who follow Absalom.'

10. And 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 valiant man whose heart is like that of a lion will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a warrior, as are the men who are with him.

11. Therefore 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. My advice is for you to gather all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba, as many as the sands of the sea, and go to battle in person.

12. So 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 shall find him wherever he is and fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive.

13. Moreover, 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 withdraws into a city, all Israel will bring ropes and drag it into the valley until not even a pebble of it remains."

14. And 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.

14. Absalom and all the Israelites said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahitophel." For Yahweh had decreed that the good counsel of Ahitophel be defeated, so that he might bring evil upon Absalom.

15. Then 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.

15. Then Hushai reported to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, "Ahitophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel in this way; but I have advised them in this manner.

16. Now 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. Therefore send word to David quickly, 'Do not lodge tonight at the desert fords. Go beyond them lest the King and all the men with him be trapped!"

17. Now 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.

17. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at Enrogel where a maidservant regularly went to report to them so they could go and tell king David, for they themselves must not be seen in the city.

18. Nevertheless 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.

18. But a lad saw them and reported to Absalom. The two hurriedly left the place and entered the house of a man of Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they got down into it.

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

19. The woman took a covering and spread it over the well's mouth, then scattered grain over it without anyone noticing.

20. And 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.

20. When Absalom's servants came to the woman's house, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman answered them, "They left, following the brook." They looked for them but could not find them; and so they returned to Jerusalem.

21. And 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.

21. After they had gone, the men came up out of the well and went to tell David, "Hurry and cross over the river, for this is what Ahitophel has counseled against you."

22. Then 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.

22. So David and all those who were with him crossed over the Jordan; and by daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

23. And 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.

23. When Ahitophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled his ass and rode back home to his own city. After setting his house in order, he hanged himself and died. He was then buried in the tomb of his father.

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

24. David had already entered Mahanaim when Absalom crossed over the Jordan with all the Israelites.

25. And 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.

25. Absalom had put Amasa in charge of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of Ithra, an Ishmaelite who had married Abigail the daughter of Isai, sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab.

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

26. The Israelites and Absalom pitched camp in the land of Gilead.

27. And 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,

27. When David arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,

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

28. brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep and cheese from the herd. All this was for David and the people with him to eat

29. And 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.

29. for they said, "The people are hungry, weary and thirsty in the desert."