September 13, 2019

2 SAMUEL 17:1-20

17:1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.
17:2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed. And I will terrorize him, and all the people who are with him will flee; then I will strike down the king only.
17:3 And I will bring all the people back to you; the return of the whole depends on what happens to the man whom you are seeking. All the people will be at peace.
17:4 And the word seemed right in the sight of Absalom and in the sight of all the elders of Israel.
17:5 Then Absalom said, Call now for Hushai the Archite also that we may hear what he also has to say.
17:6 So Hushai came to Absalom; and Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken in this way. Shall we do what he says? If not, you speak.
17:7 And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.
17:8 Hushai said moreover, You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and bitter in soul, like a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and your father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.
17:9 He is now hidden in some pit or some other place; and when some of them fall at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who are with Absalom.
17:10 And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt in fear; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and that those who are with him are valiant men.
17:11 But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, like the sand that is by the sea in multitude, and that you go into battle in person.
17:12 Then we will come upon him in some place where he will be found, and we will light upon him as dew falls upon the ground; and we will not leave among him and among the men who are with him even one.
17:13 And if he should withdraw into a city, all Israel will carry ropes to that city, and we will pull it into the river, until not even a stone is found there.
17:14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel; for Jehovah had ordained the defeat of the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that Jehovah might bring evil upon Absalom.
17:15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus did I counsel.
17:16 Now therefore send word quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but pass over by all means; otherwise, the king will be swallowed up, as well as all the people who are with him.
17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En-rogel, and a female servant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David; for they could not risk being seen coming into the city.
17:18 But a young man saw them, and he told Absalom. And both of them went off quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard; and they went down into it.
17:19 And his wife took the covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, and she strew grain over it; and the matter was unknown.
17:20 Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have crossed over the brook of water. And when they searched for them and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.