2 Samuel 16:15-23

The Message

¹⁵ By this time Absalom and all his men were in Jerusalem.

And Ahithophel was with them.

¹⁶ Soon after, Hushai the Arkite, David’s friend, came and greeted Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷ Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this the way you show devotion to your good friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend David?”

^18-19 “Because,” said Hushai, “I want to be with the person that God and this people and all Israel have chosen. And I want to stay with him. Besides, who is there to serve other than the son? Just as I served your father, I’m now ready to serve you.”

²⁰ Then Absalom spoke to Ahithophel, “Are you ready to give counsel? What do we do next?”

^21-22 Ahithophel told Absalom, “Go and sleep with your father’s concubines, the ones he left to tend to the palace. Everyone will hear that you have openly disgraced your father, and the morale of everyone on your side will be strengthened.” So Absalom pitched a tent up on the roof in public view, and went in and slept with his father’s concubines.

²³ The counsel that Ahithophel gave in those days was treated as if God himself had spoken. That was the reputation of Ahithophel’s counsel to David; it was the same with Absalom.