2 Samuel 17:15-22

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹⁵ Then Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel. But this is what I have advised. ¹⁶ Now send a message quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at the fords in the wilderness. Also, be sure to cross over the river, or the king and all the people who are with him will be swallowed up.’”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahima’az were to wait at En Rogel because they could not risk being seen going into the city. A female servant was to go out and inform them. Then they could go and tell King David. ¹⁸ However, a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them quickly went to the house of a man at Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹ His wife took a cover, spread it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it. Nobody knew that she did it.

²⁰ Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahima’az and Jonathan?”

The woman said to them, “They have passed by toward the river.”^[a] Absalom’s servants pursued them but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ When they left, Ahima’az and Jonathan climbed out of the well. They went and reported to King David, and they said to him, “Get up and cross over the river quickly because this is what Ahithophel advised against you.” ²² So David and all the people who were with him set out and crossed the Jordan, beginning at the first light of day and continuing until everyone had crossed over the Jordan.