2Samuel:17

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* Moreover Achithophel said unto Abshalom , Do let me now select twelve thousand men , and I will arise and pursue after David this night ; * And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak –handed , and will terrify him ; so that all the people that are with him will flee ; and I will smite the king alone ; * And I will bring back all the people unto thee : when all return the man whom thou seekest , all the people will be in peace . * And the thing was pleasing in the eyes of Abshalom , and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel . * Then said Abshalom , Do call now also Chushai the Arkite , and let us hear what he likewise beareth in his mouth . * And when Chushai was come to Abshalom , Abshalom said unto him , as followeth , Such words as these hath Achithophel spoken : shall we do after his words ? if not , do thou speak . * And Chushai said unto Abshalom , The counsel that Achithophel hath given at this time is not good . * And Chushai said , Thou well knowest thy father and his men , that they are mighty men , and are of an embittered spirit , as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field : and thy father is also a man of war , and will not lodge with the people . * Behold , he is now hidden in some one of the pits , or in some one of the places : and it will come to pass , when some of them should fall at the first onset , that whosoever heareth it would say , There hath been slaughter among the people that follow Abshalom . * And he also that is most valiant , whose heart is as the heart of the lion , would become quite discouraged ; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man , and they who are with him are valiant persons . * But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee , from Dan even to Beer –sheba ’, like the sand that is by the sea in multitude : while thou in thy own person goest into the fight . * And when we come upon him in some one of the places where he may be found , we will encamp around him as the dew falleth on the earth : and there shall not be left of him and of all the men that are with him so much as one . * And if he should withdraw into a city , then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city , and we will drag it into the stream , until there be not found there even one small stone . * And Abshalom and all the men of Israel said , The counsel of Chushai the Arkite is better than the counsel of Achithophel . But the Lord had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Achithophel , to the intent that the Lord might bring the evil upon Abshalom . * Then said Chushai unto Zadok and to Ebyathar the priests , Thus and thus did Achithophel counsel Abshalom and the elders of Israel ; and thus and thus have I counseled . * Now therefore send quickly , and tell David , saying , Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness , but rather pass over at once ; lest the king be entirely ruined , and all the people that are with him . * Now Jonathan and Achima ’az were staying by ‘En –rogel ; and a maid –servant had to go and tell them , that they should go and tell king David ; for they dared not be seen to come into the city . * Nevertheless a lad saw them , and told it to Abshalom ; but they went , both of them , quickly away , and came to the house of a man in Bachurim , who had a well in his court ; and they went down thither . * And the wife took and spread a covering over the well ’s mouth , and scattered ground corn thereupon ; so that nothing was perceived . * And Abshalom ’s servants came to the woman into the house , and they said , Where are Achima ’az and Jonathan ? And the woman said unto them , They are passed over the brook of water . And they sought , but could not find them ; and they returned to Jerusalem . * And it came to pass , after they were gone , that they came up out of the well , and went and told it to king David , and they said unto David , Arise , and pass quickly over the water ; for thus hath Achithophel counseled against you . * Then did David arise , and all the people that were with him , and they passed over the Jordan : by the time the morning was light , not even one was lacking who had not passed over the Jordan . * And when Achithophel saw that his counsel was not followed , he saddled the ass , and arose , and went home to his house , to his city , and gave his charge to his household , and hanged himself ; and he died , and was buried in the sepulchre of his father . * Then came David to Machanayim : and Abshalom passed over the Jordan , he and all the men of Israel with him . * And Abshalom placed ‘Amassa instead of Joab as captain over the army : and ‘Amassa was the son of a man , whose name was Yithra the Israelite , who had gone in to Abigal the daughter of Nachash , the sister of Zeruyah Joab ’s mother . * And Israel and Abshalom encamped in the land of Gil ’ad . * And it came to pass , when David was come to Machanayim , that Shobi the son of Nachash of Rabbah of the children of ‘Ammon , and Machir the son of ‘Ammiel of Lo –debar , and Barzillai the Gil ’adite of Rogelim , * Brought beds , and bowls , and earthen vessels , and wheat , and barley , and flour , and parched corn , and beans , and lentils , and parched pulse , * And honey , and cream , and sheep , and cow ’s cheese , for David , and for the people that were with him , to eat ; for they said , The people are hungry , and weary , and thirsty , in the wilderness .

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