2 Samuel 17:1-23

2 Samuel 17:1-23

[1] Moreover Ahithophel  said  unto Absalom,  Let me now choose out  twelve  thousand  men,  and I will arise  and pursue  after  David  this night:  [2] And I will come  upon him while he is weary  and weak  handed,  and will make him afraid:  and all the people  that are with him shall flee;  and I will smite  the king  [3] And I will bring back  all the people  unto thee: the man  whom thou seekest  is as if all returned:  so all the people  shall be in peace.  [4] And the saying  pleased  Absalom  well,  and all the elders  of Israel.  [5] Then said  Absalom,  Call  now Hushai  the Archite  also, and let us hear  likewise what he saith.  [6] And when Hushai  was come  to Absalom,  spake  Ahithophel  hath spoken  after this manner:  shall we do  after his saying?  if not; speak  thou. [7] And Hushai  said  unto Absalom,  The counsel  that Ahithophel  hath given  is not good  at this time.  [8] For, said  Hushai,  thou knowest  thy father  that they be mighty men,  and they be chafed  in their minds,  as a bear  robbed  of her whelps in the field:  and thy father  is a man  of war,  and will not lodge  with the people.  [9] Behold, he is hid  now in some  pit,  or in some  other place:  and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown  at the first,  that whosoever  it will say,  There is a slaughter  among the people  that follow  Absalom.  [10] And he also that is valiant,  whose heart  of a lion,  shall utterly  for all Israel  knoweth  that thy father  is a mighty man,  and they which be with him are valiant  men.  [11] Therefore I counsel  that all Israel  be generally  unto thee, from Dan  even to Beersheba,  as the sand  that is by the sea  for multitude;  and that thou go  to battle  in thine own person.  [12] So shall we come  upon him in some  place  where he shall be found,  upon him as the dew  falleth  on the ground:  and of him and of all the men  that are with him there shall not be left  so much as  one.  [13] Moreover, if  he be gotten  into a city,  then shall all Israel  bring  ropes  to that city,  and we will draw  it into the river,  until there be not one  small stone  found  there. [14] And Absalom  and all the men  of Israel  said,  The counsel  of Hushai  the Archite  is better  than the counsel  of Ahithophel.  For the LORD  had appointed  to defeat  the good  counsel  of Ahithophel,  to the intent  that the LORD  might bring  evil  upon Absalom.  [15] Then said  Hushai  unto Zadok  and to Abiathar  the priests,  Thus and thus did Ahithophel  counsel  Absalom  and the elders  of Israel;  and thus and thus have I counselled.  [16] Now therefore send  quickly,  and tell  David,  saying,  Lodge  not this night  in the plains  of the wilderness,  but speedily  lest the king  be swallowed up,  and all the people  [17] Now Jonathan  and Ahimaaz  stayed  by Enrogel;  for they might  not be seen  to come  into the city:  and a wench  went  and told  king  David.  [18] Nevertheless a lad  saw  them, and told  Absalom:  both  of them away quickly,  and came  to a man's  house  in Bahurim,  which had a well  in his court;  whither  they went down.  [19] And the woman  took  and spread  a covering  over the well's  mouth,  and spread  ground corn  thereon; and the thing  was not known.  [20] And when Absalom's  servants  came  to the woman  to the house,  they said,  Where is Ahimaaz  and Jonathan?  And the woman  said  unto them, They be gone over  the brook  of water.  And when they had sought  and could not find  them, they returned  to Jerusalem.  [21] And it came to pass, after  that they came up  out of the well,  and told  king  David,  and said  unto David,  Arise,  and pass quickly  over  the water:  for thus hath Ahithophel  counselled  [22] Then David  arose,  and all the people  that were with him, and they passed over  Jordan:  by the morning  light  there lacked  not one  of them that was not gone over  Jordan.  [23] And when Ahithophel  saw  that his counsel  was not followed,  he saddled  his ass,  and arose,  to his house,  to his city,  and put his household  in order,  and hanged  himself, and died,  and was buried  in the sepulchre  of his father.