¶ Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise¹ and pursue after David this night²:

And I will come upon him while he is weary³ and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite⁴ the king only:

And I will bring⁵ back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be⁶ in peace.

And the saying⁷ pleased Absalom well⁸, and all the elders of Israel.

Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai⁹ the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith¹⁰.

And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying¹¹, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.

And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given¹² is not good at this time.

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men¹³, and they be chafed in their minds¹⁴, as a bear¹⁵ robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is¹⁶ a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

Behold, he is hid¹⁷ now in some¹⁸ pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

¶ And he also that is valiant, whose heart²⁰ is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt²¹: for all Israel knoweth that thy father²² is a mighty man, and they which²³ be with him are valiant men.

Therefore I counsel that all Israel²⁴ be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand²⁵ that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go²⁶ to battle in thine own person.

So shall we come upon him in some place²⁷ where he shall be found, and we will light²⁸ 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.

Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes²⁹ to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small³⁰ stone found there.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD³¹ had appointed³² to defeat³³ the good counsel³⁴ of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

¶ Then said Hushai unto Zadok³⁵ and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge³⁶ not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily³⁷ pass over; lest the king be swallowed³⁸ up, and all the people that are with him.

Now Jonathan³⁹ and Ahimaaz stayed⁴⁰ by Enrogel⁴¹; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.

Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim⁴², which had a well in his court; whither they went down.

And the woman took and spread a covering⁴³ over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing⁴⁴ was not known.

¶ 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 gone⁴⁵ over the brook of water. And when they had sought⁴⁶ and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise⁴⁷, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel⁴⁸ counselled against you.

¶ Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed⁴⁹ over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked⁵⁰ not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

And when Ahithophel saw⁵¹ that his counsel was not followed⁵², he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order⁵³, and hanged⁵⁴ himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

Then David came to Mahanaim⁵⁵. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

And Absalom made Amasa⁵⁶ captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra⁵⁷ an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.

So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash⁶⁰ of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir⁶¹ the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai⁶² the Gileadite of Rogelim,

Brought beds⁶³, and basons⁶⁴, and earthen vessels⁶⁵, and wheat⁶⁶, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine⁶⁷, for David⁶⁸, and for the people that were with him, to eat⁶⁹: for they said, The people⁷⁰ is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness⁷¹.