2Samuel:17:1-21
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Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom , "
Now let me choose twelve thousand men ,
and I will arise and pursue David tonight .
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I will come upon him while he is weary and weak ,
and make him afraid .
And all the people who are with him will flee ,
and I will strike only the king .
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Then I will bring back all the people to you .
When all return except the man whom you seek ,
all the people will be at peace ."
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And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel .
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Then Absalom said , "
Now call Hushai the Archite also ,
and let us hear what he says too ."
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And when Hushai came to Absalom ,
Absalom spoke to him ,
saying , "
Ahithophel has spoken in this manner .
Shall we do as he says ?
If not ,
speak up ."
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So Hushai said to Absalom : "
The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time .
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For ,"
said Hushai , "
you know your father and his men ,
that they are mighty men ,
and they are enraged in their minds ,
like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field ;
and your father is a man of war ,
and will not camp with the people .
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Surely by now he is hidden in some pit ,
or in some other place .
And it will be ,
when some of them are overthrown at the first ,
that whoever hears it will say , "
There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom .'
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And even he who is valiant ,
whose heart is like the heart of a lion ,
will melt completely .
For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man ,
and those who are with him are valiant men .
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Therefore I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you ,
from Dan to Beersheba ,
like the sand that is by the sea for multitude ,
and that you go to battle in person .
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So we will come upon him in some place where he may be found ,
and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground .
And of him and all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as one .
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Moreover ,
if he has withdrawn into a city ,
then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city ;
and we will pull it into the river ,
until there is not one small stone found there ."
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So Absalom and all the men of Israel said , "
The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel ."
For the LORD had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel ,
to the intent that the LORD might bring disaster on Absalom .
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Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests , "
Thus and so Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel ,
and thus and so I have advised .
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Now therefore ,
send quickly and tell David ,
saying , "
Do not spend this night in the plains of the wilderness ,
but speedily cross over ,
lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up ."'
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Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En Rogel ,
for they dared not be seen coming into the city ;
so a female servant would come and tell them ,
and they would go and tell King David .
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Nevertheless a lad saw them ,
and told Absalom .
But both of them went away quickly and came to a man '
s house in Bahurim ,
who had a well in his court ;
and they went down into it .
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Then the woman took and spread a covering over the well '
s mouth ,
and spread ground grain on it ;
and the thing was not known .
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And when Absalom '
s servants came to the woman at the house ,
they said , "
Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan ?"
So the woman said to them , "
They have gone over the water brook ."
And when they had searched and could not find them ,
they returned to Jerusalem .
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Now it came to pass ,
after they had departed ,
that they came up out of the well and went and told King David ,
and said to David , "
Arise and cross over the water quickly .
For thus has Ahithophel advised against you ."
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