2 Samuel 17 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me pick twelve thousand men and set out tonight to chase David.

I'll catch him while he's exhausted and demoralized. I'll throw him into a panic, and everyone with him will scatter. Then I'll strike down only the king,

and I'll bring all the people back to you. When the man you're looking for is dead, everyone else will return peacefully. The whole nation will be at peace."

The plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

But then Absalom said, "Bring in Hushai the Arkite too. Let's hear what he has to say."

When Hushai came in, Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has proposed this plan. Should we follow it? If not, what do you suggest?"

Hushai replied to Absalom, "This time, the advice Ahithophel has given is not good."

Hushai continued, "You know your father and his men -- they're seasoned warriors, and right now they're as fierce as a mother bear robbed of her cubs in the wild. Your father is an experienced fighter. He won't be sleeping with the troops tonight.

Right now he's probably hiding in some cave or some other stronghold. If some of your men fall in the first attack, word will spread: 'Absalom's forces have been slaughtered!'

Then even the bravest soldier -- someone with a heart like a lion -- will completely lose his nerve. Because everyone in Israel knows your father is a mighty warrior, and the men with him are fearless.

"So here's what I advise: Gather all Israel to yourself, from Dan to Beersheba -- as many as the sand on the seashore -- and you personally lead them into battle.

Then we'll find him wherever he's hiding and fall on him like dew settles on the ground. He won't survive, and neither will any of the men with him -- not a single one.

And if he retreats into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we'll drag it into the ravine until not even a pebble is left."

Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "Hushai the Arkite's advice is better than Ahithophel's." This was because Yahweh had decided to undermine Ahithophel's good counsel, so that Yahweh would bring disaster on Absalom.

Then Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, "Here's what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do, and here's what I advised instead.

Send a message to David right away and tell him: 'Don't camp at the river crossings in the wilderness tonight. Cross over immediately, or the king and everyone with him will be wiped out.'"

Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En Rogel. A servant girl would go and pass information to them, and they would then go tell King David, since they couldn't risk being seen entering the city.

But a young man spotted them and told Absalom. So the two of them quickly left and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

The man's wife took a covering and spread it over the opening of the well, then scattered grain over it. No one could tell anything was there.

When Absalom's officials came to the woman at the house and asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" she told them, "They crossed over the brook." The men searched but couldn't find them, so they went back to Jerusalem.

After Absalom's men left, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well and went to tell King David. They said, "Get up and cross the water quickly! Ahithophel has advised this plan against you."

So David and everyone with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By dawn, not a single person was left who hadn't crossed the Jordan.

When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and went home to his own town. He put his affairs in order, and then hanged himself. He was buried in his father's tomb.

David had arrived at Mahanaim by the time Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

Absalom had put Amasa in command of the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who had married Abigail daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

Israel and Absalom set up camp in the land of Gilead.

When David arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim

brought bedding, bowls, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. They said, "The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty out in the wilderness."