⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call ^(A)Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.”

¹⁶ And when Hushai the Archite, ^(A)David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, ^(B)“Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷ And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? ^(C)Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. ¹⁹ And again, ^(D)whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”

³² While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai ^(A)the Archite came to meet him ^(B)with his coat torn and ^(C)dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ^(D)a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ^(E)‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵ Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, ^(F)tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Behold, ^(G)their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, ^(H)and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So Hushai, ^(I)David's friend, came into the city, ^(J)just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.