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¹ And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and I shall rise up and pursue David tonight.² And I shall come on him, and he shall be weary and feeble handed. And I will make him tremble, and the people with him shall flee. And I shall strike the king by himself.³ And I shall bring all the people back to you when all return, except the man whom you are seeking. All the people shall be in peace.⁴ And the thing was pleasing in Absalom's eyes, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.⁵ And Absalom said, Please call for Hushai the Archite also. And we shall hear what is in his mouth, also he.⁶ And Hushai came in to Absalom. And Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken according to this word. Shall we do this word? If not, you speak.⁷ And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel Ahithophel counseled is not good at this time.⁸ And Hushai said, You have known your father and his men, that they are mighty men. And they are bitter of soul, like a bear bereaved of cubs in the field. And your father is a man of war, and shall not stay the night with the people.⁹ Behold, now he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places. And it shall be, at the falling among them at the beginning, that whoever hears even shall say, There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.¹⁰ And also he, the son of valor, whose heart is as the heart of the lion, shall utterly melt. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those with him sons of valor.¹¹ So I counsel this : Gathering, let all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude. And you in person shall go into battle.¹² And we shall come in to him, in one of the places, there where he shall be found. And we shall fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And of all the men who are with him, not even one shall be left.¹³ And if he is taken into a city, then all Israel shall bear ropes to that city. And we shall draw it into the torrent bed, until there shall not be found even a pebble.¹⁴ And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. And Jehovah had ordained to break down the good counsel of Ahithophel, for the sake of bringing the evil of Jehovah to Absalom.

¹⁵ And Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Ahithophel has counseled this and this to Absalom and the elders of Israel. And I have counseled this and this.¹⁶ And now send quickly and tell David, saying, Do not stay in the fords of the wilderness tonight. And, also, crossing pass over, that there not be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people with him.¹⁷ And Jonathan and Ahimaaz were standing at En-rogel, for they were not able to be seen going into the city. And a slave-girl went and told them. And they went and told it to King David.¹⁸ And a youth saw them, and told Absalom. And they went on, both of them in haste, and came into the house of a man in Bahurim. And he had a well in his court, and they went down there.¹⁹ And the woman took and spread the covering over the well, and spread ground grain on it. And the thing was not known.²⁰ And the servants of Absalom came in to the woman, to the house, and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They passed over the river of water. And they looked and did not find them . And they returnedto Jerusalem.²¹ And it happened after they left, they came up out of the well and went and told King David. And they said to David, Rise up and quickly pass over the waters, for Ahithophel has counseled this against you.

²² And David and all the people with him rose up, and they passed over the Jordan until the light of the morning, until there was not one lacking who had not crossed the Jordan.²³ And Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not done. And he saddled the ass and rose up and went to his house, to his city. And he gave command to his household, then hanged himself, and died. And he was buried in the burying place ofhis father.²⁴ And David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.²⁵ And Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. And Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab.²⁶ And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Gilead.²⁷ And it happened as David came into Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,²⁸ brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted grain , and beans, and lentils, and roasted grain,²⁹ and honey, and curds 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.