2 Samuel 17
1THEN Achitophel said to Abessalom, Let me, I pray thee, choose out for myself twelve thousand men; and I will arise and pursue David this very night.
2And I will come upon him while he is weary, and weak-handed, and surprise him; so that all the people who are with him will flee. And I will smite the king alone,
3and bring all the people back to thee, as a bride returneth to her husband. Thou seekest only the life of one man, therefore all the people may be at peace.
4Though this reasoning seemed good in the sight of Abessalom, and in the sight of all the elders of Israel,
5yet Abessalom said, Call, I pray you, Chousi, the Archite, and let us hear also what he saith.
6And when Chousi came to Abessalom, Abessalom spoke to him saying, In this manner Achitophel has spoken; shall we do as he adviseth? If not, speak thou.
7Upon this Chousi said to Abessalom, The counsel which Achitophel hath given, is, for this once, not good.
8Thou thyself, said Chousi, knowest thy father and his men, that they are very brave, and chafed in their minds like a bear bereaved of her whelps in the fields; or like a wild boar in the plain. And thy father is a man of war, and will not let the people rest.
9For behold he is now hid in one of the mountains, or in some secure place, and it shall be that when he shall sally out on them at the first, everyone who heareth will say, There hath been a slaughter among them who follow Abessalom:
10in which case the son of valour himself, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will assuredly be dismayed. For all Israel know that thy father is a mighty man, and that they who are with him are sons of valour.
11This therefore is the counsel which I would give; Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, like the sand which is on the seashore for multitude; and let thy presence go forth in the midst of them.
12And when we shall come upon him in one of the places where we may find him, we will encamp around him as the dew falleth on the ground. And we will not leave with him or the men who are with him so much as one man.
13And if he be shut up in any city, all Israel will take ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the ditch, so that there shall not be left so much as a stone.
14And Abessalom, and all Israel, said: The counsel of Chousi, the Arachite, is better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the Lord had determined to defeat the counsel of Achitophel, which was good, that the Lord might bring upon Abessalom all the consequent evils.
15Then Chousi, the Arachite, said to Sadok, and Abiathar, the priests, Thus and thus did Achitophel advise Abessalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus I have counselled.
16Now therefore send speedily, and tell David and say, Lodge not tonight at Araboth of the wilderness, but cross with all speed. Perhaps he may prevail with the king and all the people who are with him.
17Now Jonathan and Achimaas had taken their station at the fountain Rogel, and a girl went out, and gave them intelligence, and they went and told David, for they might not be seen entering the city.
18But a servant saw them and told Abessalom. Now they two had set out with speed, and got to the house of a man at Bakurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it,
19and the woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, and laid thereon balls of dough to dry; so that the thing was not known.
20And when the servants of Abessalom came to the woman, into the house and said, Where are Achimaas and Jonathan? The woman said, They went a little while ago over the water. And when they had sought, but did not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21And when they were gone, Achimaas and Jonathan came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said to him, Arise and cross the water with all speed: for thus hath Achitophel counselled concerning you.
22Whereupon David arose, and the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan till the morning light, till there was not one left, who had not crossed the Jordan.
23Now when Achitophel saw that his advice was not taken, he saddled his ass, and arose, and went to his house to his own city, and having given orders to his household he strangled himself, and died, and was buried in his father’s tomb.
24And David continued his march to Manaim, and Abessalom crossed the Jordan, he and all Israel with him.
25Now Abessalom had set Amessai over the army in the room of Joab. Amessai was the son of a man whose name was Jether. He was a Jezraelite, and had married Abigaia, a daughter of Naas, and a sister of Saruia, the mother of Joab.
26And all Israel with Abessalom encamped in the land of Galaad.
27Now when David came to Manaim, Ovesbi, son of Naas, of Rabbath of the Ammonites, and Machir, son of Amiel of Lodabar, and Berzelli, the Galaadite of Rogellim,
28brought ten beds of double tapestry, and ten kettles and vessels of earthenware, and wheat, and barley, and fine flour, and meal, and beans, and lentils,
29and honey, and butter, and sheep, and curdled milk of kine, and presented them to David, and to the people who were with him, to eat. For they said, The people must be hungry and weary in the wilderness.