Verse
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
KJV
King James Version
Furthermore,
Ahithophel said to
Absalom, “
Let me choose twelve thousand men and set
out
tonight
in
pursuit
of
David .
Moreover
Ahithophel said unto
Absalom, Let me now
choose out
twelve thousand men ,
and I
will
arise
and
pursue
after
David this
night:
I will attack
him while he is weak and weary;
I
will throw
him into
a
panic,
and all the people with him will
flee; I will strike
down
only
the king
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 only:
and bring all the people back
to
you
as
a
bride
returning
to
her
husband.
You
seek
the life
of
only
one
man ;
then
all the people will
be at
peace. ”
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.
This
proposal
seemed
good
to
Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
And
the
saying
pleased
Absalom well,
and all the elders of Israel.
Then Absalom
said, “Summon
Hushai the Archite as
well
, and let us hear what he too
has
to
say
. ”
Then said Absalom
, Call
now
Hushai the Archite also
, and let us hear likewise
what he saith
.
So
Hushai came
to Absalom, who
told
him, “
Ahithophel has
spoken this proposal.
Should
we carry
it
out
? If not ,
what
do
you
say?”
And
when
Hushai was
come
to Absalom, Absalom
spake
unto
him, saying,
Ahithophel hath
spoken after
this manner:
shall
we do
after
his
saying
? if not ;
speak
thou.
Hushai replied
, “This
time
the advice
of
Ahithophel is not sound
. ”
And
Hushai said
unto
Absalom
, The counsel
that
Ahithophel hath
given
is not good
at
this
time
.
He
continued
, “You
know
your
father and his men .
They are
mighty men, and as
fierce
as a wild
bear robbed of her cubs.
Moreover,
your
father is a man of war who
will not spend
the
night
with the troops
.
For
, said
Hushai,
thou
knowest
thy
father and his men ,
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
.
Surely
by
now
he is hiding
in a
cave
or some other location.
If
some of your
troops
fall
first, whoever
hears
of
it will say, ‘
There has
been
a slaughter among the troops
who
follow Absalom. ’
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
heareth
it will say, There is
a slaughter among the people
that
follow Absalom.
Then
even
the
most
valiant soldier
with
the heart of a lion will
melt
with
fear
, because
all Israel knows
that your
father is a mighty man who
has
valiant
men
with him.
And
he
also
that
is
valiant ,
whose
heart
is
as
the heart of a lion, shall
utterly
melt:
for
all Israel knoweth
that thy
father is a mighty man ,
and
they
which
be
with him are
valiant
men
.
Instead,
I advise
that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba —a
multitude
like
the sand on
the seashore—be
gathered
to
you,
and that you
yourself
lead
them
into
battle.
Therefore
I counsel
that all Israel be
generally
gathered
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
.
Then
we
will
attack
David
wherever
we find
him, and we will descend
on
him like
dew on the ground .
And of all the men with him ,
not even
one will
remain
.
So
shall
we come
upon
him in
some
place
where
he
shall
be
found
, and we will light
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.
If he retreats
to
a city, all Israel will
bring ropes to that city, and we will drag
it down
to
the valley
until not
even
a
pebble
can
be found. ”
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
.
Then
Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “
The advice
of Hushai the Archite is better than that
of Ahithophel. ”
For the LORD had purposed
to thwart
the good counsel of Ahithophel in
order
to bring disaster
on
Absalom.
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.
So
Hushai told
Zadok and Abiathar ,
the priests, “This
is
what
Ahithophel has
advised
Absalom and the elders of Israel ,
and this
is
what
I
have advised
.
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
counseled
.
Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do
not spend
the
night at
the fords
of the wilderness, but be
sure
to
cross
over .
Otherwise
the king and all the people with him will
be
swallowed
up
. ’”
Now therefore
send quickly ,
and tell David, saying,
Lodge
not this
night in
the plains
of the wilderness, but speedily
pass
over ;
lest
the king be
swallowed
up,
and all the people that
are
with him.
Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were
staying
at
En-rogel,
where
a
servant
girl
would
come
and
pass
along
information
to
them.
They
in
turn
would
go
and
inform
King
David,
for they dared
not be seen entering
the city.
Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed
by
Enrogel;
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
.
But
a young
man
did
see
them and told Absalom .
So
the
two
left
quickly and came to the
house
of
a man
in Bahurim .
He
had a well in his courtyard,
and
they climbed
down into
it
.
Nevertheless
a lad
saw
them ,
and told Absalom :
but
they
went
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.
Then
the man’s
wife
took a
covering
and spread it
over the mouth of
the
well
, scattering
grain
over
it
so
nobody
would
know
a
thing.
And
the woman
took and spread a
covering
over the well's
mouth, and
spread
ground
corn
thereon;
and
the
thing was
not
known
.
When Absalom’s
servants came to the woman at
the house, they asked
, “
Where are
Ahimaaz and Jonathan? ”
“
They have
crossed
over the brook ,”
she
replied
. The
men
searched
but
did
not find them, so
they returned to Jerusalem.
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.
After the
men
had
gone
, Ahimaaz
and
Jonathan
climbed
up out of the well and went to
inform
King David, saying
, “Get
up
and cross
over the river
at
once,
for Ahithophel has
given
this
advice
against you. ”
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
, Arise,
and pass
quickly
over the water:
for thus
hath
Ahithophel counseled
against you.
So
David and all the people with him got
up
and crossed
the
Jordan .
By daybreak,
there was
no
one left
who
had
not crossed
the
Jordan.
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.
When Ahithophel saw that his advice
had
not been
followed, he saddled his donkey
and set
out
for
his house in
his hometown.
He
put his affairs
in order and hanged himself .
So
he
died and was buried in his father’s
tomb
.
And
when Ahithophel saw that his counsel
was
not followed, he saddled his ass,
and arose,
and
gat
him
home
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
.
Then David went
to Mahanaim ,
and Absalom crossed
the
Jordan with
all the men of Israel.
Then David came
to Mahanaim .
And Absalom passed
over
Jordan ,
he
and
all the men of Israel with
him
.
Absalom had
appointed
Amasa over
the army
in
place
of Joab .
Amasa was the
son
of
a man
named
Ithra, the
Ishmaelite
who
had
married
Abigail ,
the daughter of Nahash and
sister of
Zeruiah the
mother of
Joab
.
And
Absalom made
Amasa captain
of
the host
instead
of Joab :
which
Amasa was a man's
son,
whose
name
was
Ithra an
Israelite
, that
went
in
to
Abigail the daughter of Nahash ,
sister to
Zeruiah Joab's
mother.
So the
Israelites
and Absalom camped
in the land of Gilead.
So Israel
and Absalom pitched
in the land of Gilead.
When David came
to Mahanaim, he
was
met
by
Shobi son of Nahash from
Rabbah of the Ammonites
, Machir son of Ammiel from
Lo-debar
, and Barzillai the Gileadite from
Rogelim .
And
it
came
to
pass,
when David was
come
to Mahanaim, that
Shobi the
son of Nahash of
Rabbah of the children
of
Ammon
, and
Machir the
son of Ammiel of
Lodebar
, and Barzillai the Gileadite of
Rogelim ,
They
brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, as
well
as
wheat, barley, flour, roasted
grain
, beans, lentils,
Brought beds, and
basins, and earthen vessels, and
wheat, and
barley, and
flour, and
parched
corn
, and
beans, and
lentils, and
parched
pulse,
honey, curds
, sheep, and cheese from
the
herd
for David and his
people to eat .
For they said, “
The people have
become
hungry, exhausted
, and thirsty in the wilderness. ”
And
honey, and
butter
, and
sheep, and cheese of
kine,
for David ,
and for
the
people that
were
with
him,
to eat :
for they said, The people is
hungry, and
weary
, and thirsty ,
in the wilderness.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible and King James Version. Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC.; UK publication rights are administered by the Crown's patentee; public domain in most other jurisdictions..