2 Samuel 17
The Counsellor Who Went Home and Hanged Himself
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Ahithophel Advises Pursuit
17:1Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I will choose twelve thousand men for myself. I will rise and pursue David by night.
17:2I will come upon him while he is weary and his hands are weak. I will throw him into confusion, and all the people with him will flee. I will strike down the king alone.
17:3I will bring all the people back to you, as a bride returns to her husband. You seek only one man’s life, and all the people will have peace.”
17:4The proposal was right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
The Counsel of Hushai
17:5Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite as well, so that we may hear what he too has to say.”
17:6Hushai entered before Absalom. Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has spoken in this way. Should we act on his proposal? If not, you speak.”
17:7Hushai said to Absalom, “This counsel Ahithophel has given is not good this time.”
17:8Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men: they are very powerful, bitter in their souls, like a bear bereaved of her cubs in the field and like a fierce sow on the plain. Your father is a man of war; he will certainly not give the people lodging.
17:9Even now he is hiding in one of the hills or in some other place. When he falls upon them at the outset, whoever hears will say, ‘There has been a crushing defeat among the people following Absalom.’
17:10Even a valiant man whose heart is like a lion’s heart—his heart will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that your father is powerful and those with him are men of strength.
17:11This is the counsel I have given: all Israel will gather to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sand beside the sea, with you yourself going in their midst.
17:12We will come upon him in whatever place we find him, and encamp against him as dew falls on the ground. We will leave not even one of him and the men with him.
17:13If he withdraws into a city, all Israel will take ropes to that city. We will drag it down to the torrent so that not even a stone is left there.”
17:14Absalom and every man of Israel said, “Hushai the Archite’s counsel is better than Ahithophel’s.” The Lord had commanded that Ahithophel’s good counsel be scattered, so that the Lord might bring all these calamities upon Absalom.
The Warning Sent to David
17:15Hushai the Archite said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel in such and such a way, and I advised them in such and such a way.
17:16Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night in Araboth of the wilderness. Hurry across, lest it swallow up the king and all the people with him.’”
17:17Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been waiting at the spring of Rogel. The female servant went and informed them, and they went and reported to King David, for they could not be seen entering the city.
17:18A young man saw them and told Absalom. The two hurried away and entered a man’s house in Bahurim. He had a pit in his courtyard, and they went down into it.
17:19The woman took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the pit. She cooled grain on it, and nothing was discovered.
17:20Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have gone a little beyond the water.” They searched but did not find them, and returned to Jerusalem.
17:21After they left, the two came up from the pit, went to King David, and reported to him. They said to David, “Rise and cross the water quickly, for this is what Ahithophel advised concerning you.”
17:22David and all the people with him rose and crossed the Jordan. By morning light not one who had not crossed the Jordan had escaped notice.
The Death of Ahithophel
17:23Ahithophel saw that his counsel had not been carried out. He saddled his donkey, rose, and went home to his city. He gave instructions to his household, hanged himself, and died. He was buried in his father’s tomb.
David at Mahanaim
17:24David passed on to Mahanaim. Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and every man of Israel with him.
17:25Absalom appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Jethro the Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.
17:26All Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
17:27When David came to Mahanaim, Ouesbi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim
17:28brought ten beds, rugs with pile on both sides, ten cauldrons, pottery vessels, wheat, barley, flour, barley meal, beans, and lentils,
17:29also honey, butter, sheep, and cheese from cattle. They brought these for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V2 · working draft awaiting specialist review.