³¹ Just then, someone told David, “Ahithophel is one of Absalom’s conspirators!”

So David prayed, “Lord, please turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

Hushai Serves as a Spy

³² Just as David was coming to the top of the Mount of Olives where God was being worshipped, there was Hushai the Archite to meet him, with his coat ripped and dust all over his head! ³³ David greeted him, “If you come along with me, you’ll be a burden to me. ³⁴ So go back to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I’ll be your servant, your majesty! Just as I served your father in the past, I can be your servant now.’ That way you can manipulate Ahithophel’s advice to my benefit. ³⁵ Won’t Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? So whatever you hear from the king’s palace, you’re to report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Their two sons—Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan—are with them there. You’ll be sending me everything that you hear through them.” ³⁷ So David’s friend Hushai went back to the city just as Absalom was arriving in Jerusalem.