2Samuel:17

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* Later Ahithophel said to Absalom : »Let me choose twelve thousand men . Tonight I will set out after David . * »I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged . He will be frightened ! All his men will run away . I will kill only the king . * »Then I will bring back all his men to you . It will be like a bride returning to her husband . Kill one man and the rest of the people return safely .« * This seemed like good advice to Absalom and all the Israelite leaders . * Absalom said : »Bring in Hushai . Let us hear what he has to say about this .« * Hushai came to Absalom . He told him what Ahithophel planned . Then Absalom said : »Should we do what he says ? If we should not , can you come up with something better ?« * Hushai said : »This time Ahithophel ’s advice is not very good . * »You know your father and his followers are mighty warriors . They are as fierce as a mother bear whose cubs have just been killed . Your father has a lot of experience in fighting wars . He will not spend the night with the others . * »He has no doubt already found a hiding place in a cave or somewhere else . When people hear that some of your soldiers have been killed , everyone will think your entire army has been destroyed . * »Even the bravest man with a heart like a lion would lose his courage . All Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and the men with him are brave . * »My advice is to gather all Israel ’s troops from Dan to Beersheba . They are as numerous as the sand on the seashore . Lead them into battle yourself . * »Find him and attack him ! We will fall on him as dew falls on the ground . Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive . * »If he retreats into a city , all Israel will bring ropes to that city and drag it into a valley . Not even a pebble will be found there .« * Absalom and all the people of Israel said : »The advice of Hushai from Archi ’s family is better than Ahithophel ’s advice . Jehovah commanded Ahithophel ’s good advice to be defeated in order to ruin Absalom .« * Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar : »Ahithophel advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do one thing . But I advised them to do something else . * »Quickly send messengers to tell David : ‘Do not rest tonight in the river crossings in the desert . Make sure you cross the river . Otherwise Your Majesty and all the troops with him will be wiped out .’« * Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En Rogel . They could not risk being seen coming into the city . A servant girl was to go and tell them . They were to go and tell King David . * A young man saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom . So both of them left quickly . They went to the home of a man in Bahurim who had a cistern in his courtyard . They climbed down into it . * The man ’s wife took a covering and spread it over the opening of the cistern . She scattered grain over it so that no one would notice anything . * Absalom ’s officials came to the house and asked the woman : »Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan ?« She answered : »They crossed the river . The men looked for them but could not find them . So they returned to Jerusalem .« * After they left , Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the cistern . Then they reported to King David . They told him what Ahithophel planned against him . They said : »Hurry up and cross the river .« * So David and his men crossed the Jordan . By daybreak they had all gone across . * Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed . He saddled his donkey and went back to his hometown . He arranged his affairs in order and he hanged himself . He was buried in the family grave . * David went to the town of Mahanaim , and Absalom crossed the Jordan River with the army of Israel . * Absalom put Amasa in Joab ’s place as commander of the army . Amasa ’s father was Ithra from the family of Ishmael , and his mother was Abigal , the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Joab ’s mother Zeruiah . * The Israelites under Absalom ’s command set up camp in the region of Gilead . * David went to the town of Mahanaim . Shobi son of Nahash came from Rabbah in Ammon , Machir son of Ammiel came from Lo-Debar , and Barzillai the Gileadite came from Rogelim . * Here is a list of what they brought : sleeping mats , blankets , bowls , pottery jars , wheat , barley , flour , roasted grain , beans , lentils , * Also honey , yogurt , sheep , and cheese . They brought food for David and the others because they knew that everyone would be hungry , tired , and thirsty from being out in the desert .

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