| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Give me 12,000 men! I'll leave tonight and pursue David," Ahithophel advised Absalom. | 1Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. |
| 2"I'll catch him while he is still tired and weak. I'll frighten him so all his people with him desert him. But I'll only kill the king. | 2When I catch up with him he will be exhausted and worn out. I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king |
| 3Then I'll bring everybody else back to you. When the man you're looking for is dead, all the rest of the people will return quietly." | 3and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone. The entire army will return unharmed." |
| 4Even though this plan seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all of the elders of Israel, | 4This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel. |
| 5Absalom replied, "Call in Hushai the Archite so I can hear what he has to say, too!" | 5But Absalom said, "Call for Hushai the Arkite, and let's hear what he has to say." |
| 6When Hushai approached Absalom, Absalom asked him, "Here's what Ahithophel had to advise. Should we do what he says? Or if not, say so!" | 6So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?" |
| 7"Ahithophel's advice is not best at this time," Hushai suggested to Absalom. | 7Hushai replied to Absalom, "Ahithophel's advice is not sound this time." |
| 8"You know how strong your father and his men are. They're as mad as a bear robbed of her cubs! Furthermore, your father is a skilled warrior. He won't stay with his army at night. | 8Hushai went on to say, "You know your father and his men--they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army. |
| 9Look! He's probably already hiding in a cave or someplace like that. If the first attack fails, people will hear about it and think, 'Absalom's army is losing!' | 9At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, whoever hears about it will say, 'Absalom's army has been slaughtered!' |
| 10Then even men who would otherwise be as brave as lions will be scared, because every Israeli knows your father is a mighty man, and they know his men are valiant! | 10If that happens even the bravest soldier--one who is lion-hearted--will virtually melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave. |
| 11So here's my advice: Muster everybody from one end of the country to the other! You'll have an army in number like the sand on the seashore! Then you'll go into battle! | 11My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba--in number like the sand by the sea!--be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle. |
| 12We'll go find David wherever he's hiding. We'll fall on him like dew on the ground! We'll kill him and all of his men, and we won't leave even one man alive! | 12We will come against him wherever he happens to be found. We will descend on him like the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will be spared alive--not one of them! |
| 13If he escapes into a city, we'll bring ropes to that city and tear it down! We won't leave a single stone left in the valley!" | 13If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!" |
| 14Absalom and all of the Israelis replied, "The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel's!" But the LORD had planned to circumvent the sound advice of Ahithophel so the LORD could bring Absalom to destruction. | 14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel." Now the LORD had decided to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the LORD could bring disaster on Absalom. |
| 15So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, what Ahithophel had suggested to Absalom and the elders of Israel. He also reported what he himself had proposed. Hushai said, | 15Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised. |
| 16"Quick! Get word to David! Tell him not to spend the night at the crossings that lead to the desert. Instead, he must cross the Jordan River immediately. That way, if he crosses the river, the king and his entourage will survive." | 16Now send word quickly to David and warn him, "Don't spend the night at the fords of the desert tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed." |
| 17Meanwhile, since they could not risk being seen entering the city, Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been waiting at En-rogel, where a young servant woman was to go to inform them and they would then go brief King David. | 17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city. |
| 18But a young man observed Jonathan and Ahimaaz and informed Absalom, so they left in a hurry, arrived at the home of a man who lived at Bahurim, and hid inside a well that was in his courtyard. | 18But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it. |
| 19The man's wife grabbed a sheet, covered the mouth of the well with it, and spread some dried grain over it. As a result, nobody could tell it was a hiding place. | 19His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done. |
| 20When Absalom's servants approached the woman of the house, they asked her, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" "They've already crossed the brook," the woman answered. So Absalom's servants went away in search of Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but they couldn't find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. | 20When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman replied to them, "They crossed over the stream." Absalom's men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. |
| 21A little while later, the men crawled up out of the well and went off to talk to King David. They told David, "Get up! Cross the water quickly, because this is what Ahithophel advised about you…" | 21After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, "Get up and cross the stream quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you." |
| 22So David got up and all of his entourage crossed the Jordan River. Everyone had crossed the Jordan River by dawn's first light. | 22So David and all the people who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River. By dawn there was not one person left who had not crossed the Jordan. |
| 23Meanwhile, when Ahithophel observed that his counsel was not being acted upon, he saddled his donkey, got up, and left for his hometown. Leaving behind a set of orders for his household, he hanged himself. After his death he was buried in his father's tomb. | 23When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his hometown. After setting his household in order, he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the grave of his father. |
| 24Later, David arrived at Mahanaim. Absalom and all of the Israelis who supported him crossed the Jordan River. | 24Meanwhile David had gone to Mahanaim, while Absalom and all the men of Israel had crossed the Jordan River. |
| 25Absalom had installed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. (Amasa was the son of a man named Jether the Ishmaelite. His mother was Abigail, a daughter of Nahash and a sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.) | 25Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.) |
| 26Absalom and the Israelis with him camped in the territory of Gilead. | 26The army of Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. |
| 27When David arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi (Nahash's son from the Ammonite town of Rabbah), Makir (Ammiel's son from Lo-debar), and Barzillai (from Rogelim in Gilead) were already there. | 27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim |
| 28They brought along bedding, bowls, clay basins, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grains, beans, peas, | 28brought bedding, basins, and pottery utensils. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, |
| 29honey, cheeses, sheep, and cheese made from cow's milk for David and his entourage because they had been reasoning, "The people are hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the wilderness." | 29honey, curds, flocks, and cheese. For they said, "The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert." |
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