17 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men. And I will get up and follow after David this night.

² “And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed. So, I will make them afraid. And all the people who are with him shall flee, and I will strike only the king.

³ “And I will bring back all the people to you. When all shall return, all the people shall be in peace, seeing the man whom you seek has been killed.”

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

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also and let us hear what he says as well!”

⁶ So, when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken this. Shall we do as he says, or not? Tell me.”

⁷ Hushai then answered Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.

⁸ “For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and his men, that they are strong men and bitter, as a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Also, your father is a valiant warrior and will not lodge with the people.

⁹ “Behold, he is hidden now in some cave, or in some place. And when some of them are overthrown at first, the people shall hear and say, ‘The people who follow Absalom have been slaughtered!’

¹⁰ “Then he, also, who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall shrink and faint. For all Israel knows that your father is valiant, and those with him are stout men.

¹¹ “Therefore, my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand of the sea in number, and that you go to battle in person.

¹² “So shall we come upon him in some place, wherever we shall find him. And we will fall upon him as the dew falls on the ground. And of all the men who are with him we will not leave one.

¹³ “Moreover, if he has gotten into a city, then shall all the men of Israel bring ropes to that city. And we will draw it into the river, until there is not one small stone found there.”

¹⁴ Then 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 determined to destroy the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring misery upon Absalom).

¹⁵ Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, “Of this and that manner did Ahithophel and the elders of Israel counsel Absalom. And thus and so have I counseled.

¹⁶ “Now, therefore, send quickly, and tell David, saying, “Do not stay in the fields of the wilderness this night. But cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him are devoured.”

¹⁷ Now, Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En Rogel, for they could not be seen coming into the city. And a maid went and told them, and they went and told King David.

¹⁸ Nevertheless, a young man saw them, and told it to Absalom. Therefore, they both departed quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim who had a well in his court, into which they went down.

¹⁹ And the wife took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn on it, so that the thing would not be known.

²⁰ And when Absalom’s servants came to the wife, into the house, they said, “Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman answered them, “They have gone over the brook of water.” And when they had sought them, and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ And as soon as they had departed, the others came out of the well, and went and told King David, and said to him, “Up! And quickly get yourself over the water! For such counsel has Ahithophel given against you!”

²² Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they went over Jordan until the dawning of the day, so that there was not one of them who had not come over Jordan.

²³ Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and arose. And he went home to his city and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in his father’s grave.

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

²⁵ And Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. This Amasa was the son of a man named Jithra, an Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

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

²⁷ And when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash, out of Rabbah, of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel, out of Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, out of Rogelim,

²⁸ brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched corn and beans and lentils and parched corn.

²⁹ And they brought honey and butter and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and for the people who were with him, to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness!”