2 Samuel 17:15-21

New English Translation

¹⁵ Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders^[a] of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised. ¹⁶ Now send word quickly to David and warn him,^[b] “Don’t spend the night at the fords^[c] of the wilderness tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over,^[d] or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.”^[e]

¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it. ¹⁹ His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done.

²⁰ When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men^[f] searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan^[g] climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream^[h] quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.”^[i]