17 Moreover Ahith′ophel said to Ab′salom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged, and throw him into a panic; and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down the king only, ³ and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,^[a] and all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ And the advice pleased Ab′salom and all the elders of Israel.

The Counsel of Hushai

⁵ Then Ab′salom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ And when Hushai came to Ab′salom, Ab′salom said to him, “Thus has Ahith′ophel spoken; shall we do as he advises? If not, you speak.” ⁷ Then Hushai said to Ab′salom, “This time the counsel which Ahith′ophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Hushai said moreover, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits, or in some other place. And when some of the people fall^[b] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Ab′salom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹² So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” ¹⁴ And Ab′salom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahith′ophel.” For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahith′ophel, so that the Lord might bring evil upon Ab′salom.

Hushai Warns David to Escape

¹⁵ Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abi′athar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahith′ophel counsel Ab′salom and the elders of Israel; and thus and so have I counseled. ¹⁶ Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’” ¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahim′a-az were waiting at En-ro′gel; a maidservant used to go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David; for they must not be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a lad saw them, and told Ab′salom; so both of them went away quickly, and came to the house of a man at Bahu′rim, who had a well in his courtyard; and they went down into it. ¹⁹ And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and scattered grain upon it; and nothing was known of it. ²⁰ When Ab′salom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahim′a-az and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook^[c] of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, “Arise, and go quickly over the water; for thus and so has Ahith′ophel counseled against you.” ²² Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan; by daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahith′ophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and went off home to his own city. And he set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

²⁴ Then David came to Mahana′im. And Ab′salom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵ Now Ab′salom had set Ama′sa over the army instead of Jo′ab. Ama′sa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ish′maelite,^[d] who had married Ab′igal the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeru′iah, Jo′ab’s mother. ²⁶ And Israel and Ab′salom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahana′im, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Am′mi-el from Lo-debar, and Barzil′lai the Gileadite from Ro′gelim, ²⁸ brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans and lentils,^{[e] 29} honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”

22 ¹ Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares to Build the Temple

² David commanded to gather together the aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. ³ David also provided great stores of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, ⁴ and cedar timbers without number; for the Sido′nians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. ⁵ For David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands; I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

David’s Charge to Solomon and the Leaders

⁶ Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. ⁸ But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me upon the earth. ⁹ Behold, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of peace. I will give him peace from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. ¹⁰ He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel for ever.’ ¹¹ Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. ¹² Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. ¹³ Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong, and of good courage. Fear not; be not dismayed. ¹⁴ With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone too I have provided. To these you must add. ¹⁵ You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working ¹⁶ gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and be doing! The Lord be with you!”

¹⁷ David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸ “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. ¹⁹ Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord.”

Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord.